WOMEN IN ALTERNATIVE ECONOMY � OR, WHAT DO WOMEN DO WITHOUT OFFICIAL CURRENCY?

This paper presents findings from my PhD research project titled �Exchange networks and parallel currencies: Theoretical approaches and the case of Greece�, which aimed to investigate the initiatives and schemes whose members transact among themselves without the use of the official currency � in this case, the euro. Of course, we women receive training for and we also practice every day to be �economic agents� without official currency. The paper however, focuses on the participation of women in the non-official currency or non-monetary economic spaces created outside households. In many cases women have founded or they are coordinating the initiatives, and in most cases their role is essential for the schemes to function and develop. Therefore, this paper attempts to study the research findings from the point of view of women: why they participate in this activity, what economic responsibilities, roles and powers they acquire through the schemes, how they perceive their own activity, what are the implications of this activity for their economic life in general and what economic knowledge they create themselves and make it available to all of us.