216
ditional forms of sharing. Tools for ‘sharing’ are being developed through new
smart phone apps and web sites, using participative methods in their design and
deployment, and based on establishing relations of trust through peer review systems. Trust has been a central theme in symbiosis studies, within the industrial ecology community, and much could be learned from the ‘sharing’ economy in this
respect. One aspect of the sharing economy that is currently gaining the attention of
researchers and practitioners working on labour relations is the question of casualized labour or the precarity of labour in the sharing economy. In considering the
future of environmental reporting, attention should also be placed on labour issues
as well as human rights (Fatkin in Sarkis 2001 ). The work of Cohen-Rosenthal
would be relevant here, to place a focus once more on labour conditions and the
workplace, as a way to contribute to employee and societal wellbeing – as discussed
in the Chap. 8 by Wiedmann in this volume.
Finally, the maximization of resources through ‘sharing’ could be more effective
in some cases when taken out of the market economy and placed into the solidarity
economy. As Guillaume Massard suggests, founder of SOFIES industrial ecology
consulting group, ‘the solidarity economy in Geneva allows the development of
business models for material reuse with other conditions than the typical market
conditions, making it attractive to recycle certain materials that would not be collected if subjected to the market economy prices’ (Massard 2015 ). In Geneva, social
reinsertion programs are part of the SSE, whereby unemployed people are given
positions in enterprises as part of their training, some of which focus on recycling
materials such as electronic products. In the case where the State does not offer
subsidies to an enterprise directly but allows for this form of subsidized labour, the
business model for recycling such products can become more attractive. ‘Everything
that goes beyond market profi tability, this is where the solidarity economy can
introduce different biases, such as complementary currencies or subsidized labour,’
according to Massard.
3.2 Community Currencies : Idea of Démurage
and Applicability to IE
National currencies are a fairly recent invention: centralizing money was fi rst conceived by European royalty, in attempts to limit feudal power, then reinforced by
empires seeking tighter control of the colonies, and fi nally by the modern nationstates. Money is far from being neutral: it affects the kind of transactions we make,
and the kinds of relations we establish with those exchanges and within society
(Lietaer and Kennedy 2008 ); the value of money is ultimately a social construct
(Graeber 2001 ). Historically, diverse monetary systems always existed in parallel,
around the world, from Europe to Indonesia (Sahakian 2014 ). The thirteenth century Republic of Venice had two types of currencies for external commerce, the
ducat (silver) and zecchino (gold), and two other currencies in less precious metals
M. Sahakian
ditional forms of sharing. Tools for ‘sharing’ are being developed through new
smart phone apps and web sites, using participative methods in their design and
deployment, and based on establishing relations of trust through peer review systems. Trust has been a central theme in symbiosis studies, within the industrial ecology community, and much could be learned from the ‘sharing’ economy in this
respect. One aspect of the sharing economy that is currently gaining the attention of
researchers and practitioners working on labour relations is the question of casualized labour or the precarity of labour in the sharing economy. In considering the
future of environmental reporting, attention should also be placed on labour issues
as well as human rights (Fatkin in Sarkis 2001 ). The work of Cohen-Rosenthal
would be relevant here, to place a focus once more on labour conditions and the
workplace, as a way to contribute to employee and societal wellbeing – as discussed
in the Chap. 8 by Wiedmann in this volume.
Finally, the maximization of resources through ‘sharing’ could be more effective
in some cases when taken out of the market economy and placed into the solidarity
economy. As Guillaume Massard suggests, founder of SOFIES industrial ecology
consulting group, ‘the solidarity economy in Geneva allows the development of
business models for material reuse with other conditions than the typical market
conditions, making it attractive to recycle certain materials that would not be collected if subjected to the market economy prices’ (Massard 2015 ). In Geneva, social
reinsertion programs are part of the SSE, whereby unemployed people are given
positions in enterprises as part of their training, some of which focus on recycling
materials such as electronic products. In the case where the State does not offer
subsidies to an enterprise directly but allows for this form of subsidized labour, the
business model for recycling such products can become more attractive. ‘Everything
that goes beyond market profi tability, this is where the solidarity economy can
introduce different biases, such as complementary currencies or subsidized labour,’
according to Massard.
3.2 Community Currencies : Idea of Démurage
and Applicability to IE
National currencies are a fairly recent invention: centralizing money was fi rst conceived by European royalty, in attempts to limit feudal power, then reinforced by
empires seeking tighter control of the colonies, and fi nally by the modern nationstates. Money is far from being neutral: it affects the kind of transactions we make,
and the kinds of relations we establish with those exchanges and within society
(Lietaer and Kennedy 2008 ); the value of money is ultimately a social construct
(Graeber 2001 ). Historically, diverse monetary systems always existed in parallel,
around the world, from Europe to Indonesia (Sahakian 2014 ). The thirteenth century Republic of Venice had two types of currencies for external commerce, the
ducat (silver) and zecchino (gold), and two other currencies in less precious metals
M. Sahakian