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Abstract
Institutions protect us, but who will protect us from the institutions?
Crypto-anarchists and cypherpunks have long dreamt of solving this ancient problem by replacing untrustworthy human authorities with incorruptible machines. In this talk, Vili Lehdonvirta will use the stories of Bitcoin and The DAO to highlight fundamental flaws in this vision.
About the Speaker
Vili Lehdonvirta is Professor of Economic Sociology and Digital Social Research at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. His research examines how digital technologies are used to reshape the organization of economic activities in society, from gig platforms to online marketplaces and virtual currencies to crowdfunding. What are the implications to workers, entrepreneurs, and states, and how can this digital economy be governed?
Lehdonvirta’s book Cloud Empires: How digital platforms are overtaking the state and how we can regain control is coming out from MIT Press in September 2022. His previous book Virtual Economies: Design and analysis is published by MIT Press and translated to Chinese and Japanese. Lehdonvirta has authored and co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed articles published in journals such as Socio-Economic Review, Sociology, and Journal of Management.
At this event
Professor, Lingan University
Professor of Accounting