Welfare reform in the wake of austerity has fostered increased interest in self-help initiatives within the community sector. Amongst these, time banking, one of a number of complementary currency systems, has received increasing attention from policy makers as a means for promoting welfare reform. This book is the first to look at the concept of time within social policy to examine time banking theory and practice. By drawing on the social theory of time to examine the tension between time bank values and those of policy makers, it argues that time banking is a constructive means of promoting social change but is hindered by its co-option into neo-liberal thinking. This book will be valuable for academics/researchers with an interest in community-based initiatives, the third/voluntary sectors and theoretical analysis of social policy and political ideologies.

Dr Lee Gregory is Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Birmingham, Institute of Applied Social Sciences. He co-founded and co-facilitates Time4Research, is an associate member of CHASM based at the University of Birmingham and co-ordinates the Welfare Futures research group. His research interests are in poverty and asset-based welfare, youth policy, welfare ideology and alternative forms of welfare provision.

Introduction;

Austerity and its alternatives;

Time for an alternative;

Time banking;

Repositioning time bank theory;

Resistance or resilience?;

Conclusion.