OzAsia Festival Keynote: The biography of a coin
 |
The biography of a coin
Thursday 18 September 2014
|
with Professor Michael Dutton, University of London
In May 1928 the Communist Party produced the first coin of their socialist revolution in the remote, bandit ridden region of Jinggangshan.
Framed by two revolutions: the Mexican revolution against Spanish rule, and the socialist revolution led by the Communist Party of China, this talk maps the journey of the Mexican silver dollar, or ‘Eagle coin,’ as it travelled from the mines of America to the remote hills of China.
Along the way, the coin became the dominant currency of southern and eastern China, Japan and northern Vietnam. It changed the way the Chinese thought about money, and arguably, the coin helped launch one of the earliest futures markets, and a Communist revolution.
Michael Dutton is Professor in the Department of Politics, University of London and formerly Professor of Political Cultures at the Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University. Professor Dutton’s research is characterised by a strong interest in contemporary social and cultural theory wed to a specific ‘archive’ called China.
 |
 |
Co-presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre and The Adelaide Festival Centre's OzAsia Festival
While the views presented by speakers within the Hawke Centre public program are their own and are not necessarily those of either the University of South Australia or The Hawke Centre, they are presented in the interest of open debate and discussion in the community and reflect our themes of: strengthening our democracy - valuing our diversity - and building our future.
The copying and reproduction of any transcripts within the Hawke Centre public program is strictly forbidden without prior arrangements.
