Financial nihilism today
24 March 2025, 5:30 pm–7:30 pm

The Centre for Capitalism Studies is pleased to present a talk on financial nihilism by Amin Samman (City) with commentary from William Davies (Goldsmiths).
Event Information
Open to
- All
Availability
- Yes
Organiser
-
Institute of Advanced Studies
Location
-
IAS Common GroundG17, ground floor, South WingUCL, Gower Street, LondonWC1E 6BTUnited Kingdom
Nihilism has a long history in philosophy, literature, and politics.
In his lecture, Amin Samman will track its inscription into economic discourse through money, debt, and finance, showing how the latest developments in digital finance restage the dilemmas of nihilism in new ways. From cryptocurrencies and meme stocks to Silicon Valley venture capital and the politics of public debt, economic life today thrives on the ambiguous allure of nothingness, annihilation, and disappearance.
William Davies will respond with commentary on the talk and the broader theme of financial nihilism.
Please register to attend: https://uclccs-financialnihilism.eventbrite.co.uk
The UCL Centre for Capitalism Studies is a world-leading centre for critical interdisciplinary research into the past, present, and future of capitalism. It brings together UCL faculty and students studying how markets, finance and economic institutions shape our everyday life, structure societies’ capacity to change, and are contested and remade across time and space.
About the Speakers
Amin Samman
Reader in International Politics at Department of International Politics at City St Georges, University of London
Dr Samman is a Visiting Research Fellow at UCL Centre for Capitalism Studies. He studies the temporal, historical, and existential aspects of contemporary capitalism, with an emphasis on how these relate to the workings of money, debt, and finance. He is author of History in Financial Times (2019) and editor of Clickbait Capitalism (2025). His forthcoming book is titled Currency of Nihilism.
More about Amin SammanWilliam Davies
Professor of Sociology and Political Economy at Goldsmiths University of London
Professor Davies studies the interface of knowledge and power, drawing on the work of Michel Foucault, Luc Boltanski, and Max Weber. He is author of The Happiness Industry (2015), The Limits of Neoliberalism (2016), and Nervous States (2018). His most recent publications include the journal article ‘Owning towards death: The asset condition as existential conundrum’.
More about William Davies