Women in alternative economy or, what do women do without official currency?

This paper presents research findings concerning women's involvement in the initiatives and schemes in Greece whose members transact among themselves without the use of the official currency — in this case, the euro. In many cases women have founded or they are coordinating the initiatives, and in most cases their role is essential for the schemes to function and develop. Therefore, this paper attempts to study the research findings from the point of view of women: why they participate in this activity, what economic responsibilities, roles and powers they acquire through the schemes, how they perceive their own activity, what are the implications of this activity for their economic life in general and what economic knowledge they create themselves and make available to all of us. The original data presented in this paper are meant to contribute to the discussion on women's role in economic alternatives. •A major finding of my PhD research was that women have an important role in non-mainstream economic schemes.•The PhD research had four theoretical arguments and the finding about women added one more theoretical framework which is presented in this paper.•Original data which had not been published before and not used in the dissertation are presented in the paper concerning women's economic activity, views and decisions.