Arthur Mason
About
Arthur Mason is a political anthropologist specializing in the study of Energy security and ecological vulnerability in the Global North; Energy aesthetics and futurity; and Adverse impacts of climate change for land and marine ecosystems, as well as local ways of life. Dr. Mason has been conducting fieldwork in the Global North for two decades, and has worked with energy consultants, U.S. political leaders, lobbyists, and community representatives across the Arctic. His publications focus on the anthropologies of extractive industry, futurity, and expertise, linked to STS-related genealogies.
Dr. Mason is completing a book manuscript titled Energy Image: Hydrocarbon Aesthetics of Progress and Form which draws on affective imagery to convey ideas on the formation of energy planning associated with the modern integrated hydrocarbon energy system and its contradictions. He has edited two volumes titled Arctic Abstractive Industry: Assembling the Valuable and Vulnerable North (Berghahn 2022) and Subterranean Estates: Life Worlds of Oil and Gas (Cornell 2016) both of which bring together diverse engagements with natural resource extraction and ecological vulnerability.
Dr. Mason's forthcoming book titled Energy Capitol: The Waning of Regulatory Form (Routledge 2024) employs perspectives from anthropology, political science, and sociology to explore the waning of regulatory politics surrounding large-scale energy systems in the United States at the turn of the millennium. Ethnography gathered at the Alaska State Legislature and in the Office of the Alaska Governor focuses on plans for building a 20-billion-dollar pipeline to transport natural gas from the Arctic to midcontinental markets in the United States. By illuminating key aspects of federal-state political decision-making processes on energy transportation infrastructure, Energy Capitol highlights the activities of regulatory intellectuals whose accumulated work impedes pipeline proposals by a reliance on judgments that no longer reflect the conditions in which large-scale projects are increasingly determined.
StudioPolar: The Registry is part of ongoing exploration into secondary analysis of contrasting epistemic artefacts.
Expertise Details
Energy Politics; The Anthropocene; Event Ethnography; Cultures of Expertise; Arctic Late Industrialism
Select awards:
2021 – 2023 Peder-Sather Center for Advanced Study, UC Berkeley
2020 – 2023 U.S. National Science Foundation, UC Berkeley
2019 – 2020 Peder-Sather Center for Advanced Study, NADO Trondheim
2017 – 2018 Peder-Sather Center for Advanced Study, NADO Berkeley
2017 – 2018 DAAD Programme, Freie Universität Berlin
2016 – 2017 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship
2015 – 2018 Fulbright U.S. Scholar - Russia, St. Petersburg State University
2014 – 2018 U.S. National Science Foundation, Rice University
2013 – 2014 Ciriacy-Wantrup Fellow, UC Berkeley
2012 – 2013 Fulbright U.S. Scholar - Norway, University of Tromsø
2012 – 2013 Wenner-Gren Hunt Postdoctoral Fellow
2011 – 2013 U.S. National Science Foundation, UC Berkeley
2010 – 2011 U.S. National Science Foundation, Arizona State University
2010 – 2011 U.S. National Science Foundation, Arizona State University
2006 – 2007 Fulbright U.S. Scholar - Canada, University of Calgary
Publications
2023
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2023)
Anthropology in Norway.
Norsk Antropologisk Tidsskrift
Book review
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2023)
Empathy for the Graph.
Edinburgh University Press
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
2022
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Arctic Abstractive Industry: Assembling the Valuable and Vulnerable North .
Berghahn Books
Berghahn Books
Academic anthology/Conference proceedings
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
From Northern Lights to Fluorescent Lights.
Berghahn Books
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Arctic Late Industrialism: Extracting Value through Abstraction.
Berghahn Books
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Representation Without Resemblance: Graphical Expression in Hydrocarbon Industry.
Berghahn Books
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Deluxe energy: Newly commodified regimes of luxurious energy.
Academic Press
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
2019
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2019)
Consulting virtue: from judgement to decision-making in the natural gas industry.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Academic article
2018
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2018)
Consulting Arctic Energy.
Routledge
Chapter
2016
-
Mason, Arthur;
Watts, Michael;
Appel, Hannah.
(2016)
Subterranean Estates: Life Worlds of Oil and Gas.
Cornell University Press (CUP)
Cornell University Press (CUP)
Academic anthology/Conference proceedings
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2016)
Arctic energy image: hydrocarbon aesthetics of progress and form.
Polar Geography
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2016)
Events Collectives: The Social Life of a Promise-Disappointment Cycle.
Cornell University Press (CUP)
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2016)
Arctic Abstractive Industry: Assessing the Valuable and Vulnerable North.
Cultural Anthropology Hot Spots
Popular scientific article
-
Mason, Arthur;
Watts, Michael;
Appel, Hannah.
(2016)
Oil Talk.
Cornell University Press (CUP)
Chapter
2015
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Inside the Energy Salon: Installation and Illusions of Finality.
Journal of business anthropology
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Growth Imperative: Intermediaries, Discourse Frameworks, and the Arctic.
Yale University Press
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Naming an Endless Process of Indigenization.
Current Anthropology
Book review
2013
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2013)
Cartel Consciousness and Horizontal Integration in Energy Industry.
Left Coast Press Inc.
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2013)
Homo Energeticus: Maturity, Inheritance, Identity.
Environmental Research Letters
Academic article
2012
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2012)
Corporeality of Consultant Expertise in Arctic Natural Gas Development.
Journal of Northern Studies
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2012)
Natural Gas Industry Restructuring as Ethnographic Present.
The Polar Journal
Academic article
2011
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2011)
Forms of Time in Alaska Natural Gas Development.
Polar Record
Academic article
2010
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2010)
Whither the Historicities of Alutiiq Heritage Work are Drifting.
Peter Lang Publishing Group
Chapter
2008
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Vanguard Alutiiq Heritage Practice and the Import of Expertise.
Études Inuit Studies (EIS)
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Of Enlightenment and Alaska Early Moderns.
Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Neglected Structures of Governance in US-Canadian Cross-Border Relations.
American Review of Canadian Studies
Academic article
2007
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2007)
Rise of Consultant Forecasting in Liberalized Natural Gas Markets.
Public culture
Academic article
2006
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2006)
Images of the Energy Future.
Environmental Research Letters
Academic article
2005
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2005)
The Condition of Market Formation on Alaska’s Natural Gas Frontier.
Focaal: Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2005)
Registering Discontinuity in Energy Market Analysis.
Knowledge, Technology and Policy
Academic article
2004
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2004)
Arctic Natural Gas: Reserves and Production.
Routledge
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2004)
Modernity and Decay of Alaska's Natural Gas Pipeline.
University of California Berkeley
Doctoral dissertation
2002
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2002)
The Rise of an Alaska Native Bourgeoisie.
Études Inuit Studies (EIS)
Academic article
1996
-
Mason, Arthur.
(1996)
In a Strange Turn of Events: How Alutiiq Cultural Pride became a Commodity.
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Masters thesis
Journal publications
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2023)
Anthropology in Norway.
Norsk Antropologisk Tidsskrift
Book review
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2019)
Consulting virtue: from judgement to decision-making in the natural gas industry.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2016)
Arctic energy image: hydrocarbon aesthetics of progress and form.
Polar Geography
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2016)
Arctic Abstractive Industry: Assessing the Valuable and Vulnerable North.
Cultural Anthropology Hot Spots
Popular scientific article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Inside the Energy Salon: Installation and Illusions of Finality.
Journal of business anthropology
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Naming an Endless Process of Indigenization.
Current Anthropology
Book review
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2013)
Homo Energeticus: Maturity, Inheritance, Identity.
Environmental Research Letters
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2012)
Corporeality of Consultant Expertise in Arctic Natural Gas Development.
Journal of Northern Studies
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2012)
Natural Gas Industry Restructuring as Ethnographic Present.
The Polar Journal
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2011)
Forms of Time in Alaska Natural Gas Development.
Polar Record
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Vanguard Alutiiq Heritage Practice and the Import of Expertise.
Études Inuit Studies (EIS)
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Of Enlightenment and Alaska Early Moderns.
Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Neglected Structures of Governance in US-Canadian Cross-Border Relations.
American Review of Canadian Studies
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2007)
Rise of Consultant Forecasting in Liberalized Natural Gas Markets.
Public culture
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2006)
Images of the Energy Future.
Environmental Research Letters
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2005)
The Condition of Market Formation on Alaska’s Natural Gas Frontier.
Focaal: Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2005)
Registering Discontinuity in Energy Market Analysis.
Knowledge, Technology and Policy
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2002)
The Rise of an Alaska Native Bourgeoisie.
Études Inuit Studies (EIS)
Academic article
Books
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Arctic Abstractive Industry: Assembling the Valuable and Vulnerable North .
Berghahn Books
Berghahn Books
Academic anthology/Conference proceedings
-
Mason, Arthur;
Watts, Michael;
Appel, Hannah.
(2016)
Subterranean Estates: Life Worlds of Oil and Gas.
Cornell University Press (CUP)
Cornell University Press (CUP)
Academic anthology/Conference proceedings
Part of book/report
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2023)
Empathy for the Graph.
Edinburgh University Press
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
From Northern Lights to Fluorescent Lights.
Berghahn Books
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Arctic Late Industrialism: Extracting Value through Abstraction.
Berghahn Books
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Representation Without Resemblance: Graphical Expression in Hydrocarbon Industry.
Berghahn Books
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Deluxe energy: Newly commodified regimes of luxurious energy.
Academic Press
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2018)
Consulting Arctic Energy.
Routledge
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2016)
Events Collectives: The Social Life of a Promise-Disappointment Cycle.
Cornell University Press (CUP)
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur;
Watts, Michael;
Appel, Hannah.
(2016)
Oil Talk.
Cornell University Press (CUP)
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Growth Imperative: Intermediaries, Discourse Frameworks, and the Arctic.
Yale University Press
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2013)
Cartel Consciousness and Horizontal Integration in Energy Industry.
Left Coast Press Inc.
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2010)
Whither the Historicities of Alutiiq Heritage Work are Drifting.
Peter Lang Publishing Group
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2004)
Arctic Natural Gas: Reserves and Production.
Routledge
Chapter
Report
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2004)
Modernity and Decay of Alaska's Natural Gas Pipeline.
University of California Berkeley
Doctoral dissertation
-
Mason, Arthur.
(1996)
In a Strange Turn of Events: How Alutiiq Cultural Pride became a Commodity.
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Masters thesis
Teaching
Courses
Media
2022
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Academic lectureMason, Arthur. (2022) Ethical Performance and Ethical Aesthetics as Cultural Practice. SINTEF Oceans Invited Seminar Lecture , Trondheim 2022-05-25 -
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Academic lectureMason, Arthur. (2022) Arctic Late Industrialism: Governance of Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration. China-Norway Marine University consortium China-Norway Marine University Consortium Alliance Annual Academic Conference 2022-11-14 - 2022-11-15
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Popular scientific lectureMason, Arthur. (2022) The Changing Arctic at NTNU Ocean Week. NTNU Oceans NTNU Ocean Week 2022 2022-05-03 - 2022-05-03
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Academic lectureMason, Arthur. (2022) Charting the Translocal Arctic. Arctic Frontiers AS Arctic Frontiers 2022-05-08 - 2022-08-11
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Popular scientific lectureMason, Arthur. (2022) Transitions - Engaging Knowledge, Interest, and Critique. NTNU Oceans Transitions - Engaging Knowledge, Interest, and Critique Evening Workshop at NTNU Ocean Week 2022-05-02 - 2022-05-02
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Popular scientific lectureMason, Arthur. (2022) Visualizing the Anthropocene. Department of Anthropology Presentation to Anthropology and the Anthropocene undergraduate and MA course, Department of Anthropology, London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom , London School of Economics 2022-10-18 - 2022-10-18
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Popular scientific lectureMason, Arthur. (2022) Notes to an Aestheticized Economy of Asset Description. Trondheim Academy of Art Expert in Teams , Trondheim 2022-01-14 - 2022-01-14
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LectureMason, Arthur. (2022) Ethics and Aesthetics of Energy Development. Green/Black Research Council Norway Green/Black Research Council Norway Project kick-off 2022-04-22 - 2022-04-22
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LectureMason, Arthur. (2022) Energy Image: Hydrocarbon Aesthetics of Progress and Form. Department of Anthropology, London School of Economics Book proposal presentation , London School of Economics 2022-11-16 - 2022-11-16