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Ruling through technology: politicizing blockchain services

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  • Guillaume Beaumier
  • Kevin Kalomeni

Abstract

Next to artificial intelligence and big data, blockchains have emerged as one of the most oft-cited technologies associated with the digital economy. Leading technology companies have recently contributed to making the technology used more widely by developing integrated blockchain offerings. The emergence of such services yet strikingly clashes with the original stated goal of the technology to remove any form of central political authority, such as the one companies behind these new services can represent. How should we then understand the embrace of blockchains by companies that this technology was notably supposed to displace? Using the concept of infrastructure from Science and Technology Studies, we argue that these companies are not merely adopting the technology but actively promoting a new assemblage of socio-technical devices to reassert their authority over how information is exchanged online. Based on a comparative analysis of the technical documentation of Ethereum and Amazon Web Services (AWS) blockchain services, we highlight how actors contributing to building digital infrastructures regulate their users' behavior by affording them different capacities and constraints. We moreover show how by pursuing its commercial interest, AWS supported a corporate form of governance historically promoted by the United States to oversee the digital economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Guillaume Beaumier & Kevin Kalomeni, 2022. "Ruling through technology: politicizing blockchain services," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(6), pages 2135-2158, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rripxx:v:29:y:2022:i:6:p:2135-2158
    DOI: 10.1080/09692290.2021.1959377
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    Cited by:

    1. Cavallaro, Matteo & Mathieu, Alban, 2024. "Beyond the veil: Mapping cryptocurrencies' ecosystem," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. Andrea Coveri & Claudio Cozza & Dario Guarascio, 2023. "Blurring boundaries: an analysis of the digital platforms-military nexus," LEM Papers Series 2023/47, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.

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