Devalue: Blockchain Contradictions and the Politics of Value

Based on rich research that includes comparative case studies focusing on organisations in North America and Europe using blockchain technology for the storage, production, and distribution of cultural contents and services, Jacob Matthews scrutinises whether blockchain-enabled platforms objectively reshape value production. Charting new territory for scholars in an understudied area, Devalue offers a socio-economic analysis of emerging Web3 actors who specialise in blockchain applications within the culture, media, and communication industries. Based on rich research that includes comparative case studies focusing on organisations in North America and Europe using blockchain technology for the storage, production, and distribution of cultural contents and services, Jacob Matthews scrutinises whether blockchain-enabled platforms objectively reshape value production. Drawing together an analysis of two typically separated levels of political economy – the production of economic value and the production of ideology, the chapters critique the very concept of value, questioning if Web3 players, despite positioning themselves against the ‘civilisational reality’ of contemporary capitalism, merely reproduce conventional valorisation and reinforce the predominance of exchange abstraction. Leading to a more profound critique of the concept of value itself and linking to broader political stakes and theoretical questions, Devalue is relevant for scholars and students including Information and Communication Science, Media Studies, Internet Studies, Critical Theory, Political Economy of Communications, Sociology, Socioeconomics, Philosophy, Society and Technology studies, and Digital Humanities.