Shaina Potts
My research focuses most broadly on the economico-legal structures that perpetuate inequality between the Global South and the Global North. I am particularly interested in the role of US courts and domestic law in shaping transnational economic relations.
All my work is empirically, conceptually, and methodologically interdisciplinary, sitting at the intersection of: political, economic, and legal geography; international political economy; and critical approaches to legal studies. Throughout, I seek to show how macro-economic and geopolitical issues, such as sovereign debt crises and post-colonial resource struggles, are shaped by the micro-politics of law and contracts. Two important goals of my work are to make what are often highly technical practices discussed only by “experts” accessible to broader audiences, and to widen the debate about what kinds of change might be possible and necessary for making the economy serve the interests of a more just and inclusive society.
All my work is empirically, conceptually, and methodologically interdisciplinary, sitting at the intersection of: political, economic, and legal geography; international political economy; and critical approaches to legal studies. Throughout, I seek to show how macro-economic and geopolitical issues, such as sovereign debt crises and post-colonial resource struggles, are shaped by the micro-politics of law and contracts. Two important goals of my work are to make what are often highly technical practices discussed only by “experts” accessible to broader audiences, and to widen the debate about what kinds of change might be possible and necessary for making the economy serve the interests of a more just and inclusive society.
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means of forging an international economic order with the United States at the forefront. It has unilaterally extended U.S. state space and restricted the economic sovereignty of other countries, in ways that have
benefited U.S. and transnational capital and underwritten the extraction of resources into the United States, especially from the Global South. At the same time, the unique characteristics of the common law have
helped make these imperial relations hegemonic.
light on the fundamental role of law (especially US common law) in structuring most major payment transactions today. Payment “flows” are not continuous at all, but rather legally divided into discrete spatial segments—and remapping these divisions, via litigation, has become a focal point of struggle between creditors and debtors, as well as among financiers. Fierce debates over contracts and their interpretation have been central in these battles. Furthermore, these financial geographies remain inextricably entangled not only with business actors, but with legal and political actors as well—law anchors economic geographies in state spaces and (often contradictory) state interests at a variety of scales.
means of forging an international economic order with the United States at the forefront. It has unilaterally extended U.S. state space and restricted the economic sovereignty of other countries, in ways that have
benefited U.S. and transnational capital and underwritten the extraction of resources into the United States, especially from the Global South. At the same time, the unique characteristics of the common law have
helped make these imperial relations hegemonic.
light on the fundamental role of law (especially US common law) in structuring most major payment transactions today. Payment “flows” are not continuous at all, but rather legally divided into discrete spatial segments—and remapping these divisions, via litigation, has become a focal point of struggle between creditors and debtors, as well as among financiers. Fierce debates over contracts and their interpretation have been central in these battles. Furthermore, these financial geographies remain inextricably entangled not only with business actors, but with legal and political actors as well—law anchors economic geographies in state spaces and (often contradictory) state interests at a variety of scales.