Existing Books on Timebanking
Timebanking has been around for quite some time up to this point, but it is still not known by everyone. An unfortunate extension of this is that there are not many books on the subject. While plenty of information exists online, the lack of formal literature is something that does timebanking communities around the world a disservice.
The following will introduce you to a few different books about timebanking as well as what they entail. Ultimately, our goal is to lead you in the direction of timebanking books that will expand your knowledge and possibly even help further the timebanking community overall.
Timebanking Books Available
A simple Google search will show you that there are not many timebanking books available. When it comes down to it, there are about four total worthwhile books that can presently be purchased. One of the most famous books was written by the father of timebanking himself, Edgar Cahn, while the others are written and contributed to by a variety of people from an equally diverse selection of backgrounds.
Time Bank as a Complementary Economic System: Emerging Research and Opportunities
This book, written by Lukas Valek and Vladimir Bures, both of the Czech Republic, takes a deep dive into what timebanking is all about. More specifically, the book looks into the “contemporary context of time bank” and offers insights into how its concepts can be more readily applied to the modern world. This is a book that would be great for someone who is seeking to learn more than timebanking’s most basic concepts. At just shy of 200 pages, this piece of literature is extensive enough to help one form a solid knowledge base, but cursory enough that it will not take weeks to read.
No More Throw-Away People
This book, written by the legendary Edgar Cahn, is a bit radical in many respects. Rather than discussing how timebanking can exist alongside the current, modern economy, it discusses how timebanking can totally disrupt it. In essence, Mr. Cahn attempts to explain how timebanking can quite literally become the new global economic model in and of itself. At 226 pages long, this book exposes many of the dark evils committed as a direct result of the current economic model and addresses how timebanking can change the course of the world for the better.
Equal Time, Equal Value: Community Currencies and Time Banking in the US
While much of the content of the previous two titles is theoretical, this book takes a direct look at timebanking in the United States. This book utilizes “a mix of qualitative and quantitative data” to look at some of the most popular and successful timebanks. As is the case with most books on the subject of timebanking, this book also delves into how timebanking directly challenges the current economic model. More specifically, it looks at how timebanking values the inputs of every single person with no discrimination whatsoever.
As far as books about timebanking are concerned, this one looks very specifically at timebanking in the United States where communities are spread all throughout the vast country.
Give and Take: How Timebanking is Transforming Healthcare
Give and Take is the most interesting of the lot because it looks at home timebanking activities are actively working within the UK’s National Healthcare Service, or NHS. This book explores how the United Kingdom’s nearly 300 timebanks—consisting of more than 35,000 members—use their skills to benefit patients who were just recently operated on.
The book is framed within the goal of adding a timebanking entity to every NHS facility in order to help patients. Not only will this help the financially stressed healthcare system in the UK, it will provide a way for people to use their skills to earn a timebanking wage that can massively, positively impact their lives. At only 102 pages, this book is the most interesting and, by far, the easiest read overall.
Timebanking Literature Online
In addition to the books about timebanking mentioned above, there are ample resources that exist solely online. While a simple Google search will unearth a seemingly endless trove of timebanking material, we found this article by the Stanford Social Innovation Review to be better than most.
Being that this too was written by Edgar Cahn, there is plenty of information available, for free.
Sources:
Stanford Social Innovation Review - The Time Bank Solution