Global Research Forum – Geopolitics and Geoeconomics of Finance

Rationale:
As Max Weber wrote in 1920 ‘money is a weapon in the struggle for economic existence’. This applies at all scales, from individuals, through social groups, firms, to nations and the Earth as a whole. Arguably, the existence of the planet and humanity now depends on whether and how money can be governed in ways to promote social and environmental justice. Weber’s quote epitomizes the inseparable relationship between finance and politics.

We invite you to a global event dedicated to the geopolitics and geoeconomics of finance. The 5-day event would start with a 2-day FinGeo School for early career scholars from around the world, followed by a 3-day Global FinGeo Conference. It would build on the success of the first global financial geography conference held in Beijing 2019, and early career financial geography events held in Brussels, 2018, and at MIT, 2021. The time is ripe to debate this topic. The US-China trade war and the war in Ukraine reshape the global political, economic, and financial landscape. Efforts to achieve sustainable development goals and net zero emissions are hampered by failures to reach and fund international initiatives. Singapore is right in the middle of these processes, as a leading financial centre, and part of the new Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership between ASEAN and other Asia-Pacific countries.

The key themes of the conference will include, but are not confined to:

• Coupling, decoupling, and recoupling in global financial networks
• Geopolitics of financial infrastructures
• Hegemonic stability or instability in global finance
• Illicit financial flows and networks
• Platform economies and AI technology in global finance
• Politics of sustainable financial development
• Climate finance and carbon colonialism
• Financial inclusion, precarity, and debt

The event will contribute to interdisciplinary dialogue on these topical matters among scholars from the Global South and the Global North. It will nurture dialogues between early career and senior researchers. It will facilitate future research initiatives and international connections, and lead to special issues in journals and grant applications.