Rachel o'dwyer

I’m a writer and a lecturer in Digital Cultures in the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. I'm previously a Research Fellow in Connect, Trinity College Dublin a Government of Ireland Post-doctoral Research Scholar and a Fulbright Scholar at UC Irvine. Most of my research and writing focuses on the intersection of cultural and digital economies: online tokens, art and money, programmable money, alternative currencies and the social and political landscapes that emerge around these. 

My debut book, Tokens, is published this October by Verso and is Longlisted for the FT book of the year award. My second, Ether, is forthcoming in 2024, also with Verso. At present I’m writing a lot about moments where digital money meets digital intimacy – Trad Wives monetising financial dependence, girlfriends asking their partners for money on TikTok, Streamers and cam models earning money via wish lists and special tokens. This is the topic of my third book. 

I’m a regular contributor and co-editor for Neural Magazine of Critical Digital Culture and Media Arts. Other recent publications include articles in the London Review of Books, The Journal of Cultural Economy, Convergence, Longreads, and The MIT Press.