Congratulations to James Patriquin on the successful defence of his PhD thesis, entitled “The Technologies of Global Governance: Money, Finance, and Power in the Era of Digital Currency”. James will be graduating with collaborative PhD in Political Economy and his research has been nominated for a Senate Medal. His supervisor was Randall Germain.
“My dissertation engages the history, philosophy, and political economy of money, beginning with the emergence of commodity money in the sixteenth century through to cryptocurrency and the emergent universe of digital money. My research uses the method of genealogy to outline a historical concept of money, which I define as a political technology capable of concentrating benefits and distributing costs through the process of money’s production. The critical component of my study demonstrates how currency practices become institutionalized as money, displacing the classical question of sovereignty with a problem of domination that is based in recurring dynamics of productive power. This conception of money supports my analysis of a new mode of digital power which is increasingly capable of securing monetary and financial circulations through autonomous information systems. I argue this new mode of power points to a renovation of neoliberal global governance that proliferates and normalizes economic freedom in the absence of territorial power, and potentially to its detriment.
I could of course say more about my manuscript. But I would like to take this final chance to thank my many professors, peers, and students – and especially Professor Germain – all of whom have made my time at Carleton such a rewarding experience. To learn alongside so many impressive and inspiring people has been a tremendous privilege, and in many ways, it has changed my life.”