- Samman, A. and Sgambati, S. (2023). Financial eschatology and the libidinal economy of leverage. Theory, Culture & Society, 40(3), pp. 103–121. doi:10.1177/02632764211070805.
- Samman, A. and Konings, M. (2023). Edges of the financial imagination. Finance and Society, 9(1), pp. 54–57. doi:10.2218/finsoc.8094.
- Samman, A. (2023). The void in finance. Finance and Society, 9(1), pp. 58–60. doi:10.2218/finsoc.8093.
- Samman, A. and Palan, R. (2022). Systemic unreason: A psychic history of states and corporations. Global Society, 37(3), pp. 336–353. doi:10.1080/13600826.2022.2113040.
- Samman, A. (2022). Eternal return on capital: nihilistic repetition in the asset economy. Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory, 23(1), pp. 165–181. doi:10.1080/1600910x.2020.1763416.
- Samman, A., Boy, N., Coombs, N., Hager, S., Hayes, A., Rosamond, E. … Westermeier, C. (2022). After the boom: Finance and society studies in the 2020s and beyond. Finance and Society, 8(2), pp. 93–109. doi:10.2218/finsoc.7761.
- Samman, A. (2020). Strange loops: Producing history in financial times. Finance and Society, 6(2), pp. 148–156. doi:10.2218/finsoc.v6i2.5276.
- Samman, A. (2016). Conjuring the spirit of multilateralism: Histories of crisis management during the ‘great credit crash’. Review of International Studies, 42(2), pp. 227–246. doi:10.1017/S0260210515000133.
- Samman, A. (2016). The specter of capital. Journal of Cultural Economy, 9(1), pp. 108–114. doi:10.1080/17530350.2015.1100650.
- Samman, A. (2015). Crisis theory and the historical imagination. Review of International Political Economy, 22(5), pp. 966–995. doi:10.1080/09692290.2015.1011682.
- Samman, A., Coombs, N, and Cameron, A, (2015). For a post-disciplinary study of finance and society. Finance and Society, 1(1), pp. 1–5. doi:10.2218/finsoc.v1i1.1366.
- Samman, A. (2015). Money's other worlds. Finance and Society, 1(2), pp. 23–26. doi:10.2218/finsoc.v1i2.1382.
- Samman, A. (2014). Making financial history: The crisis of 2008 and the return of the past. Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 42(2), pp. 309–330. doi:10.1177/0305829813511866.
- Samman, A. (2012). The 1930s as black mirror: Visions of historical repetition in the global financial press, 2007-2009. Journal of Cultural Economy, 5(2), pp. 213–229. doi:10.1080/17530350.2012.660792.
- Samman, A. (2011). The idea of crisis. Journal of Critical Globalisation Studies, 4, pp. 4–9.
- Samman, A. (2011). History in finance and fiction in history. economic sociology_the european electronic newsletter, 12(3), pp. 26–34.
- Samman, A. (2008). Imagining East Asia. Naked Punch Review, 10, pp. 74–81.
Contact details
Address
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom
Personal links
About
Overview
My research explores the temporal, historical, and existential aspects of contemporary capitalism, with an emphasis on how these relate to the workings of money, debt, and finance.
My first monograph, History in Financial Times (Stanford University Press, 2019), drew on ideas in historical theory and historiography, using these to show how visions of the past shape financial dynamics in the present. After this, I became interested in the cultures of desire forming around the intersection of digital technology and finance. I recently edited a book on this theme, entitled Clickbait Capitalism (Manchester University Press, 2023). I am now working to bring the financial status of contemporary nihilism into historical focus. This will be the basis for my second monograph, Currency of Nihilism.
I am actively involved in fostering cutting-edge research in the field of 'finance and society' studies. I am co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Finance and Society, published by Cambridge University Press, as well as co-founder and Director of the Finance and Society Network.
Since 2022, I have been Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies, University of Heidelberg; Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow; and Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Political Studies, University of Lausanne. During 2024-2025, I am Visiting Research Fellow at the UCL Centre for Capitalism Studies.
Qualifications
- PhD in International Political Economy, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, 2008 – 2012
- MSc in Politics of the World Economy, London School of Economics, United Kingdom, 2005 – 2006
- BSc in Economics, University College London, United Kingdom, 2002 – 2005
Teaching
Dr Samman teaches core undergraduate modules in international political economy, as well as advanced electives in critical theory and cultural economy.
Research
Past research
Crisis theory
Financial history and crisis
Historical theory and method
Philosophy of time and history
History and politics of IPE theory
Constructivist and cultural political economy approaches
Current research
Financial nihilism
Aesthetics of finance
Economic theology
History of economic thought
Libidinal political economy
Philosophy of technology
Religion, magic, and the occult
Areas for supervision
Any of the above
Publications
Publications by category
Books (2)
- Samman, A. and Gammon, E. (Eds.), (2023). Clickbait Capitalism: Economies of Desire in the Twenty-First Century. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-5261-6816-0.
- Samman, A. (2019). History in Financial Times. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-1-5036-0945-7.
Chapters (6)
- Samman, A. (2024). Void. In Andreasen, T., Jespersen, E.S., Frantzen, M.K., Huber, N.A. and Tygstrup, F. (Eds.), Finance Aesthetics: A Critical Glossary London: Goldsmiths Press. ISBN 978-1-915983-19-0.
- Samman, A. (2023). The desire called libidinal economy. In Samman, A. and Gammon, E. (Eds.), Clickbait Capitalism: Economies of Desire in the Twenty- First Century (pp. 1–20). Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-5261-6816-0.
- Samman, A. (2023). Click here to end capitalism. In Samman, A. and Gammon, E. (Eds.), Clickbait Capitalism: Economies of Desire in the Twenty-First Century (pp. 230–233). Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-5261-6816-0.
- Samman, A. and Sgambati, S. (2023). Financialising the eschaton. In Samman, A. and Gammon, E. (Eds.), Clickbait Capitalism: Economies of Desire in the Twenty- First Century (pp. 191–208). Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-5261-6816-0.
- Samman, A. and Seabrooke, L. (2016). International Political Economy. In Guillaume, X. and Bilgin, P. (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of International Political Sociology (pp. 46–59). London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-73225-3.
- Samman, A. (2010). The 1930s all over again? In Chan, C., McCusker, J. and Hartman, S. (Eds.), And the Seasons, They Go Round and Round (pp. 101–116). Berlin: 0047 Press. ISBN 978-82-92960-03-5.
Internet publications (3)
- Samman, A. (2024). Clickbait capitalism – or, the return to libidinal political economy. Progress in Political Economy.
- Samman, A. (2015). Money's other worlds: On the magical underpinnings of our ostensibly rational economies. Stanford University Press Blog.
- Samman, A., Schwarz, E., Cornea, C., Dunn, M., Heffernan, T., Kirsch, R. … Mendoza, L. Death and Apocalypse in the Digital Megamachine. PubPub.
Journal articles (17)
Professional activities
Editorial activity (4)
- Finance and Society, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, 2015 – present.
- Journal of Critical Globalisation Studies, Editor, 2010 – 2014.
- Under/Current Magazine, Writing Editor, 2008 – 2010.
- Naked Punch: The Engaged Review of Contemporary Art and Thought, Assistant Editor, 2007 – 2009.
Other
- Founder and Director, Finance and Society Network (Jan 2018 – present).