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Seyfang, Gill 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4696-0798
(2001)
Working for the Fenland dollar: An evaluation of local exchange trading schemes (LTES) as an informal employment strategy to tackle social exclusion.
Work, Employment and Society, 15 (3).
pp. 581-593.
ISSN 1469-8722
Abstract
This article argues that in the current context of rising unemployment and growing exclusion from the traditional locus of social cohesion and income distribution, a new approach to social policy and employment is required. The scope of informal employment strategies to tackle social exclusion needs to be examined. One such initiative, which has been attracting increasing attention from policy-makers, is the Local Exchange Trading Scheme (LETS) local grassroots community currency which operates as a cashless trading network for members. LETS have been growing throughout the UK in recent years. Findings are presented from a case study of a LETS scheme. LETS was found to be successful at delivering new informal employment opportunities to socially excluded groups, boosting their income, and providing a forum for social interaction and community-building. However, there is scope for much greater participation. LETS's small size restricts its usefulness in the labour market for informal employment, and current state policy towards benefit recipients working on LETS is an obstacle. Possibilities for mainstream incorporation into welfare strategies are limited by the informal, non-commercial and deeply personal value regime enacted within LETS. Yet professionalisation would threaten this nascent socially embedded economic geography. State support for LETS, while highly desirable, should not be considered an unproblematic advocacy issue.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | sdg 8 - decent work and economic growth,sdg 10 - reduced inequalities ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/decent_work_and_economic_growth |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE) Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Science, Society and Sustainability Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Social Sciences Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Resources, Sustainability and Governance (former - to 2018) |
| Depositing User: | Rachel Snow |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Apr 2011 07:41 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Jun 2024 10:30 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/29408 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/09500170122119165 |
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