ABSTRACT
This chapter summarises the specific insights generated by its interdisciplinary set of contributors, as well as maps out some further questions and topics that might be explored in further research. Most centrally, is governance in the global political economy truly at the cusp of the ‘block age’ in which applications of blockchain technologies are ‘unblocking’ longstanding problems? Or are applications of these emergent technologies enhancing existing ‘blockages’ and contributing to new problems in contemporary global governance? The chapter addresses whether blockchain applications are improving on or further entrenching pathologies of contemporary governance. It considers the fundamental question of what blockchains are and how they can be considered emergent technologies. The chapter points to how a ‘block age’ may help improve longstanding ‘blockages’ in global governance. It indicates how a ‘block age’ fails to provide novel solutions to overcome longstanding problems of transparency, efficiency, fairness, and democracy in global governance.
