The first time the concept of 'freedom' was written down, in Mesopotamia c.2400 BC asama-gi, its use did not relate to liberty from tyrannical rule, but to freedom from debt-slavery. Why is it that from the first civilisations to the present, debt-finance has exercised such power over peoples that it has led thinkers as diverse as Hindu theologians and classical economists to link finance to power?
Adopting an avowedly critical perspective, this programme refuses simply to accept current financial law and economics as given. The programme develops an understanding of the conditions in which financial crises develop. It is designed to examine the nature of finance and the power it exercises within society.
To achieve this, students will be given a solid grounding in the legal and economic principles of finance. College examine the practice of finance in todays financial capitals with their money markets and complicated corporate structures. Students will develop practical knowledge and the theoretical tools necessary to critique finance as such: from questioning the concepts of money and value, to the power of finance with respect to time and space, the nexus of finance and consciousness, to the deep relations between finance, consumption, desire and life itself.
The study of finance will be combined with that of international economic institutions, and a range of specialised modules that students can choose based on their individual interests.
