Exploring economic difference through local currencies and social innovation: the case of La Doume, France

This paper explores the role of local currencies in fostering socio-economic resilience beyond binary notions of capitalist and alternative economies, drawing on the case of La Doume, a complementary currency in the Puy-de-Dôme region of France. Rather than framing La Doume solely as an alternative economic structure, this study examines how it activates multiple economic rationalities through a sociocratic governance model, fostering collective decision-making and democratic resource allocation. This dynamic extends to Solidoume, La Doume’s food social security system designed to redistribute economic resources and expand access to local food networks for vulnerable populations. These mechanisms enable fluid, context-sensitive negotiations between grassroots economic stakeholders, state policies, and market logics, reconfiguring local economic relations without resorting to preordained ideological binaries. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth qualitative analysis, the paper illustrates how La Doume spurs collective ownership, strengthens social cohesion, and nurtures community-driven resource distribution. By emphasizing economic pluralism and adaptive governance, this study contributes to debates on diverse economies and post-growth transitions, highlighting how local currencies, rather than simply resisting dominant market structures, function as evolving sites of negotiation and socio-territorial transformation.