Amstedam-Oost’s little secret
Alternative economies and re-imagining existence

The Makkie has been Amsterdam-Oost’s little secret for 12 years now - a local currency that has operated relatively successfully ever since. As a local currency, the Makkie has been an important financial resource for Oost residents since its founding in 2012 by Rob Van Hilden, who - interested in the idea of a time-based currency - started the Makkie as a research project. The thought occurred to Van Hilden on Makkasstraat, hence the name, ‘Makkie’. 

A time-based currency is a sort of alternative economy based on principles of equality and mutualism. The value of the currency is derived from the hours of labor worked: two parties of different professions can work to provide a service for one another, and for the amount of hours spent providing that service, one earns an equal amount of ‘cash’ (5 hours = 5 dollars), that they can exchange amongst one another on a different occasion. These two different parties would be earning different salaries in the real job market, which would maybe make each other’s services unaffordable, but this way, they’re able to afford each other’s services in a way that fosters community and an exchange of resources, rather than a for-profit system. 

This way, they’re able to afford each other’s services in a way that fosters community and an exchange of resources, rather than a for-profit system

This is the idea that inspired Van Hilden, and what the foundation of the Makkie is.

The Makkie operates on a volunteer basis.  By volunteering at places that directly help the community - activities that range from managing food waste to helping elderly locals with groceries - volunteers receive Makkies that can be exchanged at participating businesses. One hour volunteering usually earns a Makkie - a physical voucher signed off by a participation coordinator - which can be used at stores as the equivalent of a Euro or a 15-20% discount.  Volunteers can buy groceries, books, drinks - and even exchange their Makkies for an appointment at a local nail salon. 

There are about 36 locations where volunteers can spend their Makkies, and 24 where they can earn them. Different locations work with different rates, and businesses that sell their products for Makkies are unable to spend them themselves, however people can exchange the currency amongst themselves, outside of the set-up Makkie system. 

Eric Langruis, manager at Civic Amsterdam, one of the many places Makkie users can volunteer at, is especially appreciative of the social aspect of the Makkie - the ability for volunteers to exchange Makkies makes it a horizontal currency, not just one that can be exchanged between volunteers and business owners: “The Makkie is a social currency, it strengthens the social bond of the community. Volunteers come here [Civic Amsterdam] and exchange Makkies. Say, I can play the piano, and you can dance, and then we exchange Makkies and skills.”

Before November 1st, the municipality of Amsterdam was involved with the circulation and issuing of the Makkie - a physical voucher - but decided to transfer ‘bank duties’ to De Meevaart, Amsterdam’s largest community center, once it became too much for the municipality to deal with.  The community center - the self-proclaimed “living room of the neighborhood” - hosts a kitchen, theatre hall, a ‘movement’ space and spaces to rent.

And now De Meevaart is the ‘bank’ of the physical Makkie - where volunteer organizations go to pick up their stock of physical Makkies. As they take on this burden, De Meevart is forced to navigate the possibility of going digital. The Makkie organization has been contemplating thise possibility for 2 years: going digital would allow for greater administrative optimization and, in some ways, prevent fraud, a problem that participating institutions have had to deal with, since the physical vouchers are easily replicable and signatures easy to forge. 

The move towards digitization is then largely one of convenience: it would streamline administrative processes, and, in theory, make it much easier to control and harder to fraudulently replicate. This lack of control is the reason the municipality - the previous ‘bank’ of the physical Makkie - is transferring ownership to De Meevaart. 

Tim Doornewaard, managing director at De Meevaart, is not averse to the digitizing effort: “I’m quite neutral… the biggest concern would be that there’s more control: how you spend your money and where.”

Although Doornewaard’s input is valuable, the decision to go digital would ultimately be one made by the Makkie organization itself, and De Meevaart would have to accommodate that change. Once digital, volunteers would receive their Makkies on an app, and spend them at stores the way one uses a virtual card. 

If implemented, this decision would be to the detriment of most volunteers. Digital empowerment expert Karien Sondervan from Cybersoek, a digital center in Oost that provides free, professionally guided, access to digital devices, is in constant contact with residents of Oost who have little to no access to digital equipment; often Makkie users: 

“Social inequality and digital inequality are heavily correlated. People who need the Makkie don’t have the skills or the access to the digital infrastructure necessary to accommodate this change,” says Sondervan.

According Makkie’s participation coordinator Zdenka Mijic, whose job is to coordinate volunteer activities, about “50% [of volunteers] can’t read or write.”.

Concerns about the social nature of the Makkie also arise when considering digitization: it entails greater control over where and how volunteers can spend their Makkies, turning a horizontal currency into one that is rigidly vertical. 

Founder Rob Van Hilden, claims that the issue is largely relative: “It depends on the target: if it’s administrative optimization and expansion then it’s a good decision, if it’s the community that’s the target, then maybe not.” 

Whether the Makkie decides to go digital or not - a decision that would be to the detriment of most volunteers - is still up in the air. But for now, the Makkie remains an important and unique feature of the Oost community, one that nurtures a stronger sense of community, and builds a community for all, not just for those who can afford it. This is evident in the resistance of most, if not all, business owners, to the digitizing effort, and similar claims by many that business participation is contingent upon accessibility, decreasing waste and offering necessities to community members at lower costs: 

“We do it because we want help out the community - people sometimes can’t afford groceries, and with the Makkie, they’re able to”, says Sufyan Berraghoual, son of the owner of Supermarkt het Lange Mes, one of the biggest local grocery stores in Oost and an equally large contributor to the Makkie scheme. 

As an alternative economy, the Makkie fosters a sense of community and duty to one another, while also being a much more sustainable way to continue existing in a late-stage capitalist society.