interviewarchive

swop interview compilation (audio)

As part of the swop project we made a number of interview in which we aim to map various local alternatives, beeing in opposition to the strategies of capitalist hegemony.

Interview with Marie Knuff and Matthias Wesemeyer
TauschOase Schöneberger
Date: 13 August 2005
Location: Nachbartschaft Zentrum, Schöneberger, Berlin

Interview with Gabriele Oehme
Tauschring Marzahn - Berlin (BRD)
On the local currency 'Marzahner'
Date: 13 August 2005
Location: Selbsthilfe- und Beratungsstelle, Marzahn, Berlin.
Quote from interview:
”...We have the 'Marzahner' that is worth one hour work. Then we put the hours we work into an account and we can withdraw them later or exchange them for something we need. We mostly exchange services and not commodities. It is a social thing, a way to help each other in a financial difficult situation...”
Summary:
The Marzahn Exchange ring is an attempt to development a system for self-help in a neighbourhood with social and economic problems. It is open for everyone in the community.
The exchange ring is built on a principal of creating a balance between giving and taking.
The Marzahn Exchange ring sees itself as a project to develop the neighbourhood Marzahn-Hellersdorf (Berlin) as a social city in the city.
The Marzahn Exchange ring see itself as a part of a worldwide system of Exchange rings.

Interview with Thomas Rausch
Translator Nicola Dietrich
Kreutzberger Tauschring
On exchangerings
Date: 29 July 2005.
Location: Neighbourhood house, Kreutzberger, Berlin.

Interview with Ditlev Nissen
Co-organizer of Christiania's local currency system.
On the local curency LØN.
Date: 22 April 2005
Location: Loppen, Christiania, Copenhagen.
Quote from interview:
"In 1997 Christiania started a new and excitingexperiment. We made our own currency, called LØN. It can be traded in all of Christiania's shops and bars. When you trade in Christiania you can choose if you want your change in LØN. One LØN is equivalent to 50 Danish Crowns. LØNis distributed by Christiania's Common Funds. A fund guarantees that it always will be covered for the LØNcirculating. The idea is to develop the local economy, to create new activities and businesses and to support sustainable growth.
The LØN can only be used within Christiania, and that supports the local trade and creates social actions. It's about circulating the money before they are thrown into the rest of the society. But within the economy today what happens is that the local community is emptied for resources. It is the linear economy, where the money just goes through the local community and drains it of energy. It's all about acting locally and thinking globally. But we're lacking in perspective and in
a deeper understanding of things. The small heart functions as in life, we all have a heart…that's the way it should be in the local community too.”

On Ecological Backpack and self-sufficient economy
Noah Friends of The Earth, Denmark.
Date: 26 April 2005.
Location: NOAH Office, Nørrebrogade, Copenhagen.
Quotes from interview:
”We talk about producing refuse, or garbage, when we throw things out. But in reality, only a very small part of the refuse comes from the consumers, the greatest part is coming from the producers.
A car for example is 'carrying' a refuse of 25 tons, a gold ring 2.9 tons and an ordinary stapler 4 kilo.
The industries, and therefore the pollution, is more and more based in South and because of that it's completely invisible to us here in Europe.”“When communism broke down Margaret Thatcher said:
'My child's name is TINA - There Is No Alternative.'
Now there are some groups, primarily in Germany and India, who work with subsistent economies in modern societies. They are saying instead: 'SITA - Subsistence Is The Alternative'.”

Jakob Jespersen
Firends of the Earth - NOAH
Nørrebrogade 39, 2200 København N
Phone +45 35 36 12 12, fax: +45 35 36 12 17
E-mail: noah@noah.dk
Read more: http://www.noah.dk

Interview with John Holten-Andersen
Engineer in Environmental Issues/ Editor of the magazine SALT.

On environment and sustainability
Date: 27 April 2005.
Location: The Ecological Inspirationhouse, Copenhagen.
Quotation:
“Our whole society is based on making money, and because of that our democracy
is emptied of meaning. In my vision of a sustainable society we turn it the other
way round: Now it's democracy that is the aim of the economy and the economy
is just a means to getting there.”

John Holten-Andersen, associate professor
Technical University of Denmark - Department of Manufactururing Engineering and Management
Group: Innovation and Sustainability.
Email: jha@ipl.dtu.dk. Tel.: +45 4525 6084

On the third world and growth
Date: 27 April 2005.
Location: The Ecological Inspirationhouse, Copenhagen.

On interest free societies
Date: 27 April 2005.
Location: Faelleskassen (bank) - JAK/Jord Arbejde Kapital - Cph (DK)
Quote from interview:
“In this bank (Faelleskassen JAK) we operate with “interest free money”. The money our costumers put into their account gives no interest. In return they are offered interest free loans. There are no shareholders to push us for the biggest possible profit and we are strongly fighting against the interest system.
The ideology behind Faelleskassen JAK is that nobody should make an economic profit on behalf of others.
Today money has become speculation. Money has become a commodity even though the money does not have any value in itself.
Imagine that you dropped every penny and every bill down to the ocean. Nobody would be any poorer for that reason. Not one. No what has value is what we have created or produced.
…JAK is for Jord (re: soil), Arbejde (re: work) and K for Kapital (re: the produced goods and values). Of course this refers to our elementary resources.”