Dr Amin Samman
Contact details
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 concepts in historical theory and philosophy, using these to show how visions of the past shape contemporary financial dynamics. After this I became interested in the cultures of desire forming around the intersection of digital technology and finance. This was the theme for an edited collection I published, entitled Clickbait Capitalism (Manchester University Press, 2023). My second monograph, Currency of Nihilism (Stanford University Press, 2026), brings the financial status of contemporary nihilism into historical focus.
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.
I have been Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies, University of Heidelberg (2022-23); Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow (2023-24); Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Political Studies, University of Lausanne (2023-24); and Visiting Research Fellow at the UCL Centre for Capitalism Studies (2024-25).
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 (3)
- Samman, A. (2026). Currency of Nihilism. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
- Samman, A. and Gammon, E. (Eds.), (2023). Clickbait Capitalism: Economies of Desire in the Twenty-First Century. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526168160.
- Samman, A. (2019). History in Financial Times. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 9781503609457.
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 9781915983190.
- 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 9781526168160.
- 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 9781526168160.
- 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 9781526168160.
- Samman, A. and Seabrooke, L. International Political Economy. In Guillaume, X. and Bilgin, P. (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of International Political Sociology UK: Routledge. ISBN 9780415732253.
- 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 9788292960035.
Internet publications (3)
- Samman, A.(2024).Clickbait capitalism – or, the return to libidinal political economy. Progress in Political Economy.
- Samman, A., Schwarz, E., Cornea, C., Dunn, M., Heffernan, T., Kirsch, R.... Mendoza, L.Death and Apocalypse in the Digital Megamachine. PubPub.
- Samman, A.(2015).Money's other worlds: On the magical underpinnings of our ostensibly rational economies. Stanford University Press Blog.
Journal articles (20)
- Samman, A. (2026). Criticism and schizophrenia. Journal of Cultural Economy pp. 1-3. doi:10.1080/17530350.2026.2637712
- Samman, A. (2025). Obscene finance. Finance and Society pp. 1-8. doi:10.1017/fas.2025.10013
- Samman, A. (2024). Capital of lies. b2o: an online journal, 6(1)
- 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
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 (January 2018 - present).