Despite claims to the contrary, money has never merely functioned as a means of exchange, unit of account, or store of value. This course begins by exploring theories of money—we will dive into various approaches to understanding not only what money is but why money exists and what money does. The second half of the course sets these theories in motion. Through exploring historical case studies across time and that are global in their frame we will investigate the relationship between money and power by honing in on the role of money in consolidating and and contesting imperial formations, and enacting and reproducing relations of inequality along the bisecting lines of class, gender, race, and ethnicity.