Entangled Oligarchies: The Hidden Deals Reshaping US-China Power Relations in Offshore Financial Centers

This talk uncovers the complex dynamics of Spiderweb Capitalism and Entangled Economies—the intricate financial networks that quietly shape global power. Through sovereign wealth funds, offshore financial centers, and cross-border networks, elites use spiderweb capitalism to remake economic and political landscapes. Focusing on the U.S., China, and Southeast Asia, the discussion will expose how sovereign wealth funds function as strategic tools of economic influence, reshaping America’s liberal democratic system and redefining the balance of global influence. Illuminating these opaque financial networks, this lecture provides a deeper understanding of global political economies and the entanglements of power, wealth, and influence across borders. Dr. Hoang will also bring the research process itself into the discussion. Working with a growing database of 236,000 files, this project uses a locally hosted large language model (LLM) to securely parse and analyze the data while ensuring privacy and accuracy. This talk draws our attention to the ethical considerations related to data handling will be discussed, emphasizing the importance of maintaining security when investigating these complex and often clandestine financial systems, analysis that reveals how these entangled economies affect global growth, sovereignty, and the balance of power in today’s interconnected world.

Kimberly Kay Hoang is Professor of Sociology and the College at the University of Chicago.  Her research examines deal-making in frontier and emerging economies. Dr. Hoang is the author of two books. Spiderweb Capitalism: How Global Elites Exploit Frontier Markets (Princeton University Press 2022). This book provides a behind-the-scenes look at how the rich and powerful use offshore shell corporations to conceal their wealth and make themselves richer. Drawing on rich interview data this book uncovers the mechanics behind the invisible, mundane networks of lawyers, accountants, company secretaries, and fixers who facilitate the illicit movement of wealth across borders and around the globe. Spiderweb Capitalism is the winner of five distinguished book awards from the Association of American Publishers and the American Sociological Association. Dealing in Desire: Asian Ascendancy, Western Decline, and the Hidden Currencies of Global Sex Work (University of California Press 2015). This monograph examines the mutual construction of masculinities, financial deal-making, and transnational political-economic identities. Her ethnography takes an in-depth and often personal look at both sex workers and their clients to show how high finance and benevolent giving are intertwined with intimacy in Vietnam's informal economy. Dealing in Desire is the winner of seven distinguished book awards from multiple sections of the American Sociological Association, the National Women Studies Association, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, and the Association for Asian Studies. She received the 2020 Lewis A Coser Award from the American Sociological Association Section on Sociological Theory— a mid-career award for Theoretical Agenda Setting. Her books and articles have been awarded over 26 prizes from several different professional associations. In addition to her research, she is the winner of the 2018 Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Teaching at the University of Chicago.  Her work has been published in American Sociological Review, Social Problems, Gender & Society, Sociological Theory, City & Community, Contexts, and the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. Her peer reviewed journal articles have won over 14 prizes and honorable mentions from the Sociologists for Women in Society, Vietnam Scholars Group, and the American Sociological Association: Section on Global & Transnational Sociology, Section on Race, Gender and Class, Section on Sociology of Sex & Gender, Section on Sociology of Body and Embodiment, Section on Asia and Asian America, and the Section on Sexualities.