Join the City Political Economy Research Centre (CITYPERC) to discuss the nature of money with Anush Kapadia, author of A Political Theory of Money.
What is money? Why does something so insubstantial have value? How do money systems make promises function like valuable things? Why are money systems always hierarchical yet variable? The answer, argues Kapadia in his new book, is politics.
Money is institutionalised social power. Politics generates institutions that differentially lock into the future product of political and economic collectives. Money emerges from the institutionalisation of social antagonisms to encapsulate a collective's productive potential in a flexible, tradable instrument.
This takes a system. Money is built in hierarchical layers out of the inherently variable material of politics and at various economic scales. A Political Theory of Money outlines these variable processes theoretically and through case studies.
Speakers
Discussant: Sahil Jai Dutta (City, University of London)
Attendance at City events is subject to our terms and conditions.