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Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies

Pablo Velasco Gonzalez (Visiting Researcher)

Pablo Velasco Gonzalez

Thesis: “The authority of the steam”: power dynamics of digital production in the Bitcoin blockchain
Supervisors: Dr Nathaniel Tkacz & Dr. Michael Dieter

I am an Early Career Researcher at the Institute of Advanced Study and a PhD Candidate at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (CIM), University of Warwick. My research critically explores digital culture through its technical infrastructures. My PhD focused on the relations between authority, space, politics, and distribution of power in public blockchains.

Previously I obtained a Bachelor degree and an MA in Philosophy at UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico), where worked on Heidegger's Concept of Truth and Language. Before joining CIM I worked as a Research Assistant in three different universities in Mexico, on a diversity of subjects including Political Networks, Theory of Theatre, and National Security. Full CV here.

I am currently interested in the political and ontological implications of the progressively pervasive use of automated computational techniques, e.g. procedural generation and unsupervised machine learning methods. My updated academic (and non-academic!) work can be found at pablov dot me.

Research interests: Free and Open Source Software, Digital Economies, Code and Software Studies, Digital Cultures, Science and Technology Studies, Political Economy, Media Theory, and, broadly, Internet Culture.

Former Education

  • Aug 2009 – Jan 2011 : Master of Arts in Philosophy (Summa cum Laude), National Autonomous University of Mexico.
  • Aug 2003 – Aug 2009 : Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (Magna cum Laude), National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Recent Publications

2018

  • Velasco González, P. (forthcoming). Cryptocurrency, in Barney Warf (ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Internet. New York: SAGE.
  • Tkacz, N., Velasco González, P. (2018). Experience Money, in Moneylab Reader 2. Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures.

2017

2016

  • Velasco González, P. (2016 / in print). “Sketching Bitcoin: empirical research of digital affordances”, in Sebastian Kubitschko and Anne Kaun (eds.), Innovative Methods in Media and Communication Research. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Velasco González, P. (2016). Superabundant design: from waste to control in Bitcoin mining. A Peer-Reviewed Journal about, (Excessive Research). Digital Aesthetics Research Centre, Aarhus University, School of Communication and Culture. ISSN 2245-7755.
  • Velasco González, P. (2016). Superabundance logic in Bitcoin mining. Transmediale – Conversation Piece Newspaper. Digital Aesthetics Research Center, Aarhus University.

2015

De Jong, E., Tkacz, N., Velasco González, P. (2015). “You Will Live as Friends and Count as Enemies”: On Digital Cash and the Media of Payment. Moneylab Reader, Institute of Network Cultures.

Recent Presentations

2017

  • The people’s platforms: Bitcoin and Blockchain technology as an open, distributed, social value exchange, Society through the lens of the digital – Herrenhausen Conference, Hanover, Germany, 31st May [poster].
  • Blockchain morphology: an historical perspective on the affaire between money and networks, Renewable Futures Conference – Economia, Eindhoven, Netherlands, 29th Apr [slides].

2016

  • Digital Singularity: the techno-political design of Bitcoin, Intellectual Property / Information Technology / Media Law Discussion Group, University of Edinburgh, UK, 14th Nov [slides]
  • Rule-bending: disruption, consensus, and decision-making in Bitcoin hard-fork, 8th Annual S.Net conference: The Co-Production of Emerging Bodies, Politics and Technologies, University of Bergen, Norway, 12th Oct.
  • Not for all the world’s coffees: the un-forkability of the Bitcoin blockchain. Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies Post-graduate Conference. University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. 30 Jun.
  • Excessive Research Stream. Transmediale/conversationpiece. Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany. 4 Feb.

2015

  • Logics of excess, waste and surplus in Bitcoin mining. Excessive Research PhD research workshop. Participatory IT Research Centre, Aarhus University; transmediale/art&digitalculture and School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong. John Lennon Art and Design Building, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK. 3-5 Nov.
  • Sketching Bitcoin topologies: machines and markets. Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies Post-graduate Event. University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. 26 Jun.

Recent Grants

  • 2017 – 2018 Early Career Fellow, Institute of Advanced Study, University of Warwick
  • 2017 Volkswagen Stiftung Travel Grant for Young Researchers
  • 2014 – 2016 Secretary of Public Education (SEP, Mexico) Supplementary Scholarship
  • 2013 – 2017 National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) Scholarship for International Studies, Mexico
  • 2012 – 2013 Program for the Incitement of Creation and Artistic Development of Veracruz, Institute of Culture of Veracruz (Novel), Mexico
  • 2009 – 2011 CONACyT Scholarship for National Master's Studies, Mexico

Pablo

Contact

Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies
University of Warwick
Coventry
CV4 7AL

pablov.me

Email: P dot R dot Velasco-Gonzalez at warwick dot ac dot uk