News

Workshop: Exploring the Intersection of Finance and Policy

On May 22, 2025, Ruben Kremers presented his book project "Hipster Finance: The Everyday Politics of Neobanks" at the workshop Exploring the Intersection of Finance and Policy. The workshop was organized by the GRADE Initiative: Social Foundations of Global Finance in cooperation with the RMU network Methods in Global Finance. You can find the flyer for the workshop here.

Workshop: Bloomberg data for IPE research

On 7 May 2025, the first workshop of the RMU network Methods in Global Finance took place. The aim of the workshop was to explore the potential of Bloomberg terminals for research in International Political Economy. The workshop was led by Dr Patrick Jahnke who generously shared his extensive expertise with the terminals.

Research Network: Methods in Finance

In January, we launched the Methods in Global Finance research network. The aim of the network is to engage and develop the methodological pluralism of critical finance research. The network is led by Guadalupe Moreno (Goethe University Frankfurt), Johannes Petry (Goethe University Frankfurt) and Ruben Kremers (JGU Mainz). It is funded by the Rhein-Main-University (RMU) Early Career Researcher Initiative and will run for two years.

The methodological pluralism of critical finance research:

This is an interesting moment for the study of global finance. As the intellectual challenges posed by the 2007-2009 financial crisis have lost their integrative force, scholars have expanded research agendas to include a broader range of topics, including financial subordination, financial hegemony, central banking, digital finance, sustainable finance, and more. As research topics have multiplied, so have methodological repertoires. Current work encompasses methodologies as diverse as experimental design, network analysis, expert interviews, and archival work and at the same time taps into a growing range of public and private data sources. But while the empirical and theoretical expansion of global finance scholarship has received considerable attention, its methodological pluralism has remained underexplored. To address this gap, the network will organize a conference, several methods training sessions, a book workshop, and publish an edited volume over the next two years.

Blogpost: Who benefits from fintech’s feminism?

Who benefits from the business feminism of the fintech sector? In a new blog post, Dr Ruben Kremers suggests that the answer to this question is not always straightforward.

The post was published in German on the eFin blog of the Centre for Responsible Digitalisation and is available here.

Symposium: Artificial intelligence, political influencers, and the future of democracy

On 11 November 2024, Dr Ruben Kremers took part in a symposium he co-organised on the topic: The Future of Democracy: The Role of Artificial Intelligence and Influencers. You can find the flyer for the symposium here.

Article: Industry Events and the 'Curated Reflexivity' of Alternative Finance

Recurring financial crises have repeatedly shifted the focus of investors and policymakers to alternative ideas and practices that seek to align finance more effectively with broader societal goals.

In their new article, Marco Andreu, Ruben Kremers and Lena Rethel analyse the role of industry events in cultivating this reflexivity.

The article was published in New Political Economy and is open access. It can be downloaded here: https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2024.2418080.

DVPW Convention 2024: Politics in times of Polycrisis

Prof Helen Callaghan and Dr Ruben Kremers attended the 29th Academic Conference of the German Political Science Association (DVPW). The event took place at the Georg-August University in Göttingen from 24-27 September.

The program of the congress can be found here.

Visit at the European Central Bank

Last Friday, Ruben Kremers and Simone Schaller, together with twenty students from the Department of Political Science, took part in a visit to the European Central Bank organised by the Friends of Political Science in Mainz. They were welcomed by two alumni of the department, Stephanie Bergbauer and Daniel Weber. Stephanie gave a presentation and Q&A session on the digital euro, and Daniel gave a tour of the ECB Tower. Students could ask questions about recruitment and career opportunities while enjoying the stunning view over the city of Frankfurt. Thanks to everyone involved in the visit - it's been an absolute treat!

Upcoming: 4. DVPW-Workshop

Dr Ruben Kremers will participate in the 4. DVPW-Workshop "Making Sustainability Happen: Global Politics Meets Planetary Boundaries" to be held from 10.-12. April in Tutzing. The workshop program is available here and you can follow the workshop online by registering here.

Upcoming: Presentation at the ISA 2024 Annual Convention

At this year's ISA 2024 Annual Convention, to be held from 3-6 April in San Francisco, Dr Ruben Kremers will participate in three panels, entitled: "Power and authority in the digital economy"; "The rise of Asia and the reconfiguration of international financial norms"; and "Putƫing Relationality at the Centre of IPE Pedagogies". The conference program is available here.