Searching for Trust

Victoria L. Lemieux is Associate Professor of Archival Science at the University of British Columbia's School of Information and Founder of Blockchain@UBC, UBC's blockchain research and education cluster. Her research interests include risks to the availability of trustworthy records and how these risks impact transparency, financial stability, public accountability, and human rights. The numerous awards for her contributions to the field of archives, records management, and cybersecurity include a World Bank's Big Data Innovation Award in 2015, a 2020 Blockchain Ecosystem Leadership Award, and recognition as one of Canada's Top 20 Women in Cyber Security in 2020 by IT World.

• Preface; Part I. Introduction: 1. What good is Blockchain?; Part II. Trust: 2. Trust and its discontents; 3. From 'Trustless Trust' to 'The Great Chain of Certainty'; Part III. Disinformation: 4. Mistrust and the rise of disinformation; 5. Faking it; Part IV. Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology: 6. The 'Moral Defence of the Archive'; 7. From 'Archival Imaginaries' to archival realities; Part V. The Theory of the Future: 8. The 'Life-World' on ledger; References; Index.

'At this critical moment when blockchain technology is going mainstream, Lemieux has written an indispensable study of the key social and political questions that this technology raises. The book is skeptical when it needs to be, socially nuanced and intellectually rigorous. Lemieux argues that blockchain technology needs to be viewed in the context of broader trends and debates about the validity of information, the reliability of data, and the trustworthiness of the organizations responsible for its storage and dissemination. She addresses these issues with great clarity and insight. It is a brilliant and compelling piece of scholarship.' Nigel Dodd, London School of Economics