New blog for new research

Well, it is not that new anymore, but i realised that i had not posted the link of my new research blog here. It is called Grassroots Economics - Ριζικά Οικονομικά [pronounced more or less: Rizika Oikonomika ] and it is in two languages, Greek and English. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to translate from one language to another, so please, bear with me. The link is https://rizikaoikonomika.wordpress.com/ [please, copy and paste on your browser] There is also a twitter account with the same name, dedicated to research and to the news related to the themes of my research. You may find at at https://twitter.com/rizikaoikonomik or if you search for Rizika Oikonomika on Twitter.com See you at "Rizika Oikonomika - Grassroots Economics" then!

Is there a fair and just price in solidarity economy?

This is a paper i prepared beyond my dissertation obligation, in order to explore the notion of fair price in solidarity economy, while the latter exists in a capitalist setting. To my great disappointment, related texts were not plenty and due to my PhD programme, i was unable to conduct research on original sources. However, i promise to work more on this topic in the future. you may access the paper at this link http://www.scribd.com/doc/122884118/Is-there-a-fair-and-just-price-in-solidarity-economy or by clicking at the same link at the left column of this blog.

The dissertation, at last!

You may download my dissertation in 3 files, from this link http://www.academia.edu/2341923/Exchange_networks_and_parallel_currencies_Theoretical_approaches_and_the_case_of_Greece or http://www.scribd.com/Irene_Sotiropoulou This link is temporary, as the University Library will upload the file the following weeks. Till then, you may copy this link on your browser or click on the link at the left column of the blog.

Today, i have had my viva exam, and, miraculously, I passed the exam! Indeed, i could not believe that this happened at last, exactly because i had problems till the last moment, actually problems which were beyond my reach to resolve. THat way this part of my research is over and the entire dissertation will be available online in a few days, in english and in greek, at last! To write my thanks at this post for all those people who helped me, is not comparable to the generous support i received all those years. You will read the acknowledgements in the dissertation anyway, therefore I am not bothering you now about that. I would like you only to know that the material collected for the dissertation has not been used in its entirety, because it was huge, but i will have the chance to study again and thoroughly the knowledge which all those people generously offered me and i hope that i will return it again to where it belongs. In this blog, there will be published my dissertation (or a link to it) and any texts emerged from this research project. For other research projects and publications, you may temporarily visit my research facebook account (in Greek only, but many posts might be accessible in english or in other languages), because this account will remain active, as i will be working on this field in the future too: Ανταλλαγές Παράλληλα Νομίσματα Later, there will be other blogs or posts on websites concerning new publications and projects.

What do women do without official currency?

This is a working paper where i tried to figure out the role of women in the economic activity without official currency. Therefore, i tried to work with the data i had collected during my PhD research and see how those become meaningful in terms of the position and the involvement of women. This work has not been concluded yet, but the first results are amazing. To download the entire working paper, copy the following link onto your browser http://economics.soc.uoc.gr/wpa/wpa_show_paper.php?handle=1207 or open the link at the left column of the blog.

Marketing a vintage carpet in a free bazaar and other stories on/off value

Here it is! One of the papers i have prepared in spring concerning issues that i would like to work on after my dissertation is over. This paper refers to issues of value. Far from being able to write on value in a satisfactory way, i cannot resist the challenges my research has created so far concerning our perceptions of value and our valuing processes. Therefore, i used some case studies from my project just to raise the questions. The paper has been submitted for review to the IIPPE Conference and the reviewers have really helped me a lot by sending my detailed comments. The comments have not been integrated into the article yet, so please consider this as a working paper. To download the entire paper copy the link below on your browser http://economics.soc.uoc.gr/wpa/wpa_show_paper.php?handle=1206 or click on it at the left column of the blog.

Change of supervisor

The supervision of this research project has been taken over by Professor Basileios Kardasis (Dept. of Economics, University of Crete), in substitution of Prof. George Stathakis.

The paper on * hypothesis at the IJCCR

After several corrections and improvements, my article on the * hypothesis has been published on the special issue of the International Journal of Community Currency Research, for the 30 years of community and complementary currencies. Given that you will download the entire issue, it is worth reading too the other articles, which are really very interesting and educative. Copy the link on your browser http://ijccr.net/2012/07/09/2012-special-issue-thirty-years-of-community-and-complementary-currencies/ or just click on the same link at the left column of the blog.

Bernard Lietaer's lecture on collective psychology of money

Bernard Lietaer gives an online lecture on the collective psychology and how this is affected/(re)created by our monetary systems. For the moment, the lecture is in Spanish only... http://www.wiziq.com/online-class/910168-bernard-lietaer-la-psicolog%C3%ADa-colectiva-del-dinero-y-nuevos-dise%C3%B1os (Copy and paste the link on your browser or click on the same link at the left column of the blog)

An entire Reportage without Frontiers has been dedicated to solidarity initiatives in Greece, focusing on parallel currencies, exchange networks and free bazaars. You may watch the broadcast by copying the link on your browser http://www.rwf.gr/192713/%CE%B5%CE%BA%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BC%CF%80%CE%AD%CF%82/%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%AC%CE%B4%CE%B1/%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%B7%CE%BB%CE%B5%CE%B3%CE%B3%CF%8D%CE%B7-%CF%84%CE%BF-%CE%B1%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%AF%CE%B4%CE%BF%CF%84%CE%BF-%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B7-%CF%86%CF%84%CF%8E%CF%87%CE%B5%CE%B9%CE%B1/ or by clicking on the link at the left column of the blog!

Random thoughts about an economy

This is a short article written in May 2011 and based on some of my research notes. It has been published last Saturday at Radiobubble'σ website (www.radiobubble.gr).

The text is for the moment in Greek and it will be uploaded in English too, shortly.

You may copy this link on your browser
http://news.radiobubble.gr/2012/04/29-2011-1.html

or click on it at the left column of the blog!

The terms and their economies

This paper has already been pre-published as it has been presented at the 8th Conference on Terminology organised by ELETO in Athens. Now, you may download the entire article from this link

http://www.eleto.gr/download/Conferences/8th%20Conference/Papers/8th_12-26_SotiropoulouEirini_paper3_V01.pdf

either by copying the link on your browser or by clicking on the link at the left column of the blog.

Transactions without euros in times of crisis: Coincidence, affinity or challenge?

This is the paper I have presented on November 10th 2011 at the Conference organised by the School of Management & Economics at Messolonghi. You may access the paper at this link
http://www.economy-krisis.net/wordpress/?page_id=480
or click on the link at the left column of this blog.

or you may download the paper in English or in Greek, from this page
http://www.economy-krisis.net/wordpress/?page_id=213
or click on the link at the left column of this blog.

At that same page of the conference papers, you will find very interesting works if you click on the link "Articles" at the top of the page. More papers will be uploaded shortly!

Short Stories of Dependency 2.0

By the occasion of the World Economics Association online conference, I prepared a new version of the Short Stories of Dependency. As you may see, I have not resolved the ethical issues I am facing in my research and in the meantime new issues have been raised.

You may find the new version of the paper at this link
http://economics.soc.uoc.gr/html/static_content/econ_phd/GR/Sotiropoulou/shortstoriesofdependency_Feb12_FULL%20VERSION.pdf (copy the link on your browser or click on it at the left column of the blog)

and you can participate at the WEA conference (conference participation is free), read the conference papers and make your comments at this link
http://weaethicsconference.wordpress.com/ (copy the link on your browser or click on it at the left column of the blog)

COMENTARIOS SOBRE LA NEUTRALIDAD DEL DINERO Y DEL ESTILO DE VIDA

En la bibliografía, la discusión sobre las monedas paralelas es casi siempre dedicada a presentar nuestro estilo de vida como algo natural, algo que puede continuar sólo por cambiar el sistema monetario. Eso es una idea de neutralidad del dinero en reverso: la teoría clásica dice que el dinero y el sistema monetario son neutrales en relación a la economía. Ahora, la discusión se hace sobre la pregunta si el sistema monetario es neutral a la estructura del sistema económico. Es decir, la teoría parece (escribo “parece”, porque no es algo claro y por supuesto no se han hecho tales investigaciones) conceptualizando la moneda como neutral en relación con la economía y especialmente a la economía política de nuestra sociedad.

Por ejemplo, si bien el trabajo de mujeres no es muy valorado (o, en muchas veces no es valorado de ninguna manera) en la economía convencional, en la literatura de monedas paralelas no vemos un gran esfuerzo por valorizar el trabajo de mujeres mucho más que lo que ellas reciben cuando su trabajo se paga con dinero convencional, y sin embargo se acepta una valorización injusta que deja al trabajo femenino al margen de la economía. Es decir,

"And, which is the role of crisis, at the end of the day, in all this?|

This is a question I deal with almost every day - the correct answer is "we do not know". An even better answer is "we have not yet discovered the answer (and the explanation of it).

I am currently preparing the related dissertation chapter, i.e. all this inquiry on whether and how the "crisis" has affected the development and dispersion of economic aactivity without official currency in Greece. The main outline of the chapter can be found on the following presentation (in Greek)
http://economics.soc.uoc.gr/html/static_content/econ_phd/GR/Sotiropoulou/Sotiropoulou_10112011.pdf

(copy the link or open the link at the left column of the blog).

Once the paper is ready, it will also be published!

How environmental awareness can be practical and funny while puzzling economists

One of the articles recently published in the Journal of Innovation Economics is the updated and thoroughly corrected and (i hope) improved version of the paper I had prepared a year ago for the Conference "Environment, Innovation and Sustainable Development".
You may read the entire paper in English on the following link
http://www.cairn.info/revue-journal-of-innovation-economics-2011-2-page-89.htm#resume
(copy the link or open the link at the left column of the blog).

Below is the abstract of the paper:

How environmental awareness can be practical and funny while puzzling economists: exchange networks, parallel currencies & free bazaars in Greece
This paper is part of a large ongoing field research project dealing with economic activity in Greece performed without the use of any official currency. The schemes studied range from parallel currencies to free bazaars and from specialized exchange networks to businesses accepting used public transport tickets as partial payment by customers. Exchange and bazaars often take place via fairs and parties, some of which have already become famous and attract hundreds of people, although most of the schemes are quite recent and still develop. The scope of this paper is, therefore: a) To present the theoretical, connected to environment, issues that the project aims to deal with, and b) To present the findings of the first, qualitative stage of the field research that might enlighten us on how the environment as an idea and motive leads people to invent new ways of transacting.

Ok, one more post on "True Scenarios" show...

Copy the following link or click on it, at the left column of the blog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKN_lDHqh_E&feature=related

"True Scenarios" ("Αληθινά Σενάρια") about barter and about Peliti network...

...they dedicated 3 broadcasts, already in spring 2010.

You can watch part of the broadcast here
(you copy the link on your browser or you open it from the left column of the blog)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_fOM8v4Ga0&feature=related

And, to avoid bothering you with continuous similar posts, you may seek on ther internet to find the rest parts of the 3 broadcasts, with the name of the TV show "Αληθινά Σενάρια".

Lawsuit (& complaint to the Eur. Commission) against the Ministry of Education for the programme "Herakleitos II"

On Thursday, October 6th 2011, I filed a lawsuit in front of the Athens Administrative Court against the Ministry of Education regarding part of the funding approved for my research project "Exchange networks and parallel currencies: Theoretical approaches and the case of Greece", asking for the amount they refuse to pay for the time period since 1-6-2009 until August 2010, i.e. almost half of the scholarship from the funding programme titled “Heracleitos II - Enhancing human research personnel through performance of PhD research”.

The story is as follows: in March 2009 I submitted a proposal...