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Community currency is an understudied, alternative social movement. These local networks are grassroots, collective efforts to form an alternative market with the hopes of empowering the economically marginalized and building social capital. Original data collected from members of a local currency system are employed to investigate their motivations to join and the congruence between motivating factors and various forms of participation. Four categories of motivations are identified and multivariate models are estimated to assess which are the most salient predictors of differential participation. The results provide some support for the congruence hypothesis. As predicted, member motivations play a role in shaping forms of participation. This evidence is used to draw larger implications for social movement research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time banking is an international movement that seeks to transform traditional asymmetric social service models into social networks in which members both provide and receive services that are assigned equal value. Time banks have been shown to enhance social capital, and there is some evidence for improved health. This article, based on a survey of 160 members of a hospital-affiliated time bank, examines the likelihood and predictors of improvement in physical and mental health as a result of membership. Men, people with lower income, and those who were not working full-time reported highest levels of participation in exchanging services; attachment to the organization was greatest among women, older members, people with less education, and those with the highest participation levels. Multivariate analyses revealed that physical health improvement attributed to membership was significantly predicted by attachment to the organization and living alone; mental health gains were predicted by general health changes, average number of exchanges, and attachment to the organization. We conclude that a sense of belonging, a dimension of social capital, is key to improved well-being and that time banking may be particularly valuable in promoting health and belonging among older and lower-income individuals and those who live alone. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Community currency systems attempt to empower the economically marginalized and build social capital. This research explores the role of the elderly in a local voluntary organization. The elderly are potentially very important contributors, yet we know little about their participation in these local exchange networks. Eighty-seven months' worth of transaction data from a "time bank," which has had a total of 950 members, was examined in social network analyses. Measures of quantitative engagement in the system were constructed. The elderly were found to be as active as other members. Qualitative characteristics of the network were also explored. The organization is rather homogeneous, yet exchanges within it tend to connect diverse actors. Male and female seniors under transact with themselves and with one another, generating bridging social capital. The evidence presented suggests that the participation of the elderly in local currencies is mutually beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community currency originated as a means to empower the economically marginalized. This paper studies the US population of community currency systems using locally printed money. Eighty-two systems are identified that have been attempted in the United States since 1991. Internet searches and contact with system coordinators indicate that only 20.7% of all systems are active. Regions in which they occur are described; more than one quarter are in Pacific states. City-level Census 2000 data are employed in analyses of environmental conduciveness to determine in which types of social environments local currencies emerge and survive within. Social movement theory is engaged to identify general, population-based resources for local movements. Economic marginality and labor-market-independence hypotheses are also formulated and tested. The major findings indicate that cities with local currencies are characterized by populations with lower household incomes, higher poverty rates, higher unemployment rates, and larger self-employment sectors. Evidence is also presented indicating that community currencies tend to survive in places with younger populations, higher educational attainment, fewer married people, and less residential stability. Implications concerning the future of the community currency movement and its ability to empower the marginalized are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates two major aspects of homeschooling. Factors determining parental motivations to homeschool and the determinants of the student achievement of home-educated children are identified. Original survey data from an organized group of homeschoolers is analyzed. Regression models are employed to predict parents' motivations and their students' standardized test achievement. Four sets of homeschooling motivations are identified. Academic and pedagogical concerns are most important, and it appears that the religious base of the movement is subsiding. Several major demographic variables have no impact upon parental motivations, indicating that this is a diverse group. Parents' educational attainment and political identification are consistent predictors of their students' achievement. Race and class--the two major divides in public education--are not significant determinants of standardized test achievement, suggesting that homeschooling is efficacious. It is concluded that homeschoolers are a heterogeneous population with varying and overlapping motivations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to estimate the extent to which home schooling parents perceive themselves as social movement participants and to identify the factors contributing to such beliefs. The impact of collective action frames, feelings of efficacy, social network ties, and home schooling motivations are considered. Regression models are employed in an analysis of original survey data from an organized group of Southern California homeschoolers. Home schooling motivations are most salient in determining whether one interprets their activities as part of a larger movement. Social network tie indicators are largely unimportant in the models. The findings highlight the important role of organizational affiliation and integration. Homeschoolers without affiliations and those who are less integrated into their support organizations are not likely to feel as if they are part of a larger movement. Organizational integration—specifically attitudinal affinity—also appears to make home schooling parents become more narrowly focused upon their own children rather than the welfare of all children. Implications for future home schooling and social movement research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workplace democracy has been advocated by labor as a means of worker empowerment and by management as an effort to improve productivity and quality. This article seeks to clarify this contradictory support through an analysis of American managers' and workers' attitudes. Class ideology and class experience are tested as factors that underlie attitudes toward three different forms of workplace democracy. Ordinary least squares regression and path analysis are employed in an analysis of national survey data from 1991. Class location is found to be a weak predictor, whereas class experience is a strong determinant. The findings indicate that American workers want more control once they get some influence over workplace decision making, highlighting a paradox behind the often narrow goals of managers. Implications are discussed vis-àvis the labor movement and contemporary corporate participation programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Race, class, and gender are the major bases of social inequality in con temporary America. In this study I investigate the consequences of social inequality on "socialist" ideology. Through a descriptive group analysis I identify who is most supportive of economic democracy. National survey data are employed to measure public opinion toward nationalization and workplace democracy Such "politics of production "seek to redistribute control of the means of production, representing a fundamental challenge to class relations. Incorporating analysis of variance; I test for group differences in attitudes. Class position is operationalized by Wright's (Wright, Erik Olin, 1978. Class, Crisis and the State. London: Verso) contradictory class locations model Race is found to be the most important basis of attitudes toward economic democracy. Class location and gender are critical in shaping Latino attitudes, but are largely irrelevant for African Americans. Despite class and gender effects, the analysis highlights the relative conservativism of whites. The mobilization potential of social movements advocating economic democracy is discussed. Given my findings and recent historical developments, the implications for workplace democracy are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the use of students' performance as indicator in determining the educational accountability of schools in the United States. Evaluation the California's Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999; Reference on the advantages and risks in the educational accountability system; Tendency of schools to alter performance indicators.

Analyzes the preferences of women for worker control over workplace decision-making in the United States. Comparison between the wages of men and women in the workforce; Significance of workplace democracy for women; Use of the four branches of feminist theory in interpreting nature of support; Relationship between women and the labor movement.

The article offers information on the Portland West Time Dollar Exchange (PWTDE) dataset which includes transactions from a local currency group in Portland, Maine. The dataset covers a variety of services exchanged in the transactions, including health and wellness services, office and administrative support services, and food services. The dataset is presented in an Excel spreadsheet containing two worksheets.