Staff profile

Teaching and Supervision

In the Epiphany Term 2024, I will be teaching the lecture Data and Politics II (1st March).

I am currently supervising two Risk Master dissertations.

Bio

I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Geography at Durham University, in the ERC research project Algorithmic Societies. My PhD focused on cross-border payments and blockchain technologies. I currently study the infrastructural materiality of AI, AI for economic policy making, and Digital Twins for Climate Change Adaptation. I published in Social Studies of Science, Environment and Planning A, the Journal of Cultural Economy, Political Geography, and Big Data&Society, and authored chapters in books published by Elsevier, Springer, and Manchester University Press.

Previous Education

I studied my bachelor in International Studies in Florence, Italy, and my Master in Global Studies in Lund, Sweden. During my Master, I undertook an internship in the "Transnational Political Ordering in Global Finance" research group at the Centre for Intercultural and International Studies in Bremen, Germany.

Chapter in book

• Blockchain
  
  Rella, L. (2020). Blockchain. In International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-08-102295-5.10514-1

Journal Article

• Hybrid materialities, power, and expertise in the era of general purpose technologies
  
  Rella, L., Hansen, K. B., Thylsturp, N. B., Campbell-Verduyn, M., Preda, A., Rodima-Taylor, D., Xu, R., & Straube, T. (2025). Hybrid materialities, power, and expertise in the era of general purpose technologies. Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory, 26(1), 138-157. https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910x.2024.2414312
• A stack made in heaven? Exploring AI-blockchain intersections and their implications for labour and value
  
  Rella, L., & Campbell-Verduyn, M. (2024). A stack made in heaven? Exploring AI-blockchain intersections and their implications for labour and value. Progress in Economic Geography, 2(2), Article 100026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.peg.2024.100026
• A world model: On the political logics of generative AI
  
  Amoore, L., Campolo, A., Jacobsen, B., & Rella, L. (2024). A world model: On the political logics of generative AI. Political Geography, 113, Article 103134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103134
• The material geographies of Bitfury in Georgia: Integrating cryptoasset firms into global financial networks
  
  Wyeth, R., Rella, L., & Atkins, E. (2024). The material geographies of Bitfury in Georgia: Integrating cryptoasset firms into global financial networks. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 56(3), 816-832. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518x231211789
• Problematising density: COVID-19, the crowd, and urban life
  
  Joiner, A., McFarlane, C., Rella, L., & Uriarte-Ruiz, M. (2024). Problematising density: COVID-19, the crowd, and urban life. Social and Cultural Geography, 25(2), 181-198. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2022.2143879
• Close to the metal: Towards a material political economy of the epistemology of computation
  
  Rella, L. (2024). Close to the metal: Towards a material political economy of the epistemology of computation. Social Studies of Science, 54(1), 3-29. https://doi.org/10.1177/03063127231185095
• Machine learning, meaning making: On reading computer science texts
  
  Amoore, L., Campolo, A., Jacobsen, B., & Rella, L. (2023). Machine learning, meaning making: On reading computer science texts. Big Data & Society, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517231166887
• Steps towards an Ecology of Money Infrastructures: Materiality and Cultures of Ripple
  
  Rella, L. (2020). Steps towards an Ecology of Money Infrastructures: Materiality and Cultures of Ripple. Journal of Cultural Economy, 13(2), 236-249. https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2020.1711532
• Blockchain technologies and remittances: From financial inclusion to correspondent banking
  
  Rella, L. (2019). Blockchain technologies and remittances: From financial inclusion to correspondent banking. Frontiers in Blockchain, 2, Article 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbloc.2019.00014