The Internet has long stimulated discussion around the idea of an alternative economy based on reciprocal exchange. To date, however, the benefits of this gift economy have been largely limited to the realms of cyberspace. By contrast to the global, virtual, gift economy that developed online, this paper explores the way in which Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), traditionally renowned for enhancing global reach, can be used to build and strengthen local exchange systems using community currencies. The research focuses specifically the Community Exchange System (CES), which originated in Cape Town towards the end of 2002, and is currently used by 218 exchanges in 29 countries.

The paper proposes that web-based community currencies can provide an alternative to the current economic system, allowing for a relationship-centred approach to exchange, centred on the principle of reciprocity, and fostering a spirit of abundance over scarcity. It is proposed that what Karl Polanyi (1944) referred to as the ‘great transformation’ of the 20^th century, characterised by a shift in emphasis from human relationships to market price mechanisms, may be reversed in the ‘network society’ (Castells, 1996), in which principles of reciprocity and gift exchange are re-embedded in ‘relationship economics’ (Deragon, 2007).