Stories of money: Building social capital through time banking

Abstract

This study explored communication and ethical investment in social capital to improve quality of life through the lens of time banking, a model of alternative currency. Previous studies of time banking noted a distinct set of characteristics of time banks that contrast with capitalist-based systems while using similar language; these were compared to research of social capital and social networks. Seven participants were interviewed at-length as representatives of the time bank movement. Stories of money framed theoretical constructs in practice on a daily basis and future visioning of the movement. Further analysis using the dialogic ethic of Martin Buber and the theory of the coordinated management of meaning (CMM) of Pearce and Pearce described transformational patterns of communication in time banks. The analysis shed light on the intentions of time banks and the meaning of the terms reciprocity, community and co-construction of reality. Further explorations of transcendent stories of time banking were recommended.