Blockchain: The White Man’s Burden

“The White Man’s Burden,” (Victor Gillam, Judge magazine, 1 April 1899). Image source: Wikipedia

Note: This is a lightly edited transcript of a talk delivered at The White West III: Automating Apartheid (Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria, Feb 13–14, 2020). A fuller version with complete references is in preparation for the conference proceedings.

Abstract
In the developed world, blockchain promoters insist the technology will solve what they call problems of governance, finance and trust, though…