Arthur Mason
About
Arthur Mason (BA, Anthropology, Columbia University; MA, University of Alaska, Fairbanks; PhD, Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley) is Associate Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim. He also holds appointments as Visiting Senior Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Research Affiliate with the Centre for Energy Ethics at the University of St Andrews. At NTNU, he is co-founder of Anthropologies of Sustainability Research Group and a founding member of NTNU Energy's Team Society.
His recently completed Routledge trilogy, Inside the Energy Salon, theorizes expert performance as a central mechanism of late-liberal governance, examining how energy futures are made legible, investable, and morally persuasive within policy and investment networks. He is currently co-editing The Corridor of Impact (with Michael Watts), to be presented at Energy Ethics 2026, which reconceptualizes infrastructure corridors as dynamic socio-technical formations shaped through governance, expertise, and contestation. His forthcoming project, The Future of the Promenade: A Climate-Changed Form, examines how climate change is reshaping leisure geographies and urban planning through the northward migration of the beach promenade, following the experts designing its future.
Arthur has held funded visiting positions in the Department of Anthropology at Rice University, the Energy and Resources Group at University of California Berkeley, and the Department of Anthropology at University of Calgary. His research has been supported by U.S. National Science Foundation Exploratory and Standard grants, as well as J. William Fulbright research awards through the Fulbright US-Norway program, Fulbright US-Russia program, and Fulbright US-Canada program. Additional recognition includes awards from the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the S.V. Ciriacy-Wantrup Fellowship, and the European Research Council Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship. (ORCID & ResearcherID: I-3946-2014).
Research and Teaching Interests in Extractive Industries
- Anthropology of surfaces and curated interactions
- Environmental futures, global inequality, and Anthropocene visuality
- Cultures of energy expertise and futurity
- Neo-aristocracy, aesthetics, and Arctic late industrialism
Books
- The Corridor of Impact (with Michael Watts, forthcoming).
- Heritage in Southwest Alaska: Indigenous Becoming in Arctic Late Industrialism. London: Routledge, 2026.
- Energy Images: Aesthetics of Resemblance and Form. London: Routledge, 2026.
- Consulting Energy: From Judgment to Decision-Making. London: Routledge, 2025 (with a Foreword by Dominic Boyer, images available at Consulting Energy)
- Energy Capitol: The Waning of Regulatory Form. London: Routledge, 2024.
- Arctic Abstractive Industry: Assembling the Valuable and Vulnerable North. London: Berghahn Press, 2022.
- Subterranean Estates: Life Worlds of Oil and Gas. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2016 (with Michael Watts and Hannah Appel).
In the Media
- Seminar lecture at SOAS: Continuous Clarity: Strategic Knowledge without Falter
- Review of Arctic Abstractive Industry by Marta Gentilucci
- Movement and Meaning for Oil and Gas Data Vendors. Allegra Lab
- Advocating Slow Policy on Deep Sea Mining in the Svalbard Archipelago: Reflections on the Making Use of Arctic Science Workshop. Beyond Hot Air
- En bærekraftig fremtid for Svalbard. Svalbardposten
- Anthropology in Norway: Directions, Locations, Relations. Norway Anthropology Journal
- Assembling the Valuable and Vulnerable North. Society for Cultural Anthropology
- Anthropology of Fleeting Phenomena. Paparazzi Ethnography
- Making Use of Arctic Science. StudioPolar
Paparazzi Ethnography
Dr. Mason’s forthcoming book, Paparazzi Ethnography: An Anthropology of Surfaces and Curated Interactions (also referred to as The Excursions Project), develops a visual and methodological framework for analyzing the performative staging of expertise in elite energy politics. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted between 2010 and 2017, and supported by the National Science Foundation, Fulbright, and Wenner-Gren Foundation, the project examines how authority is produced through surfaces, images, and managed encounters. The book serves as a conceptual and methodological precursor to Mason’s 2024–2026 trilogy, Inside the Energy Salon, which investigates how consultant experts shape global governance through visual, performative, and affective forms of authority.
Publications
2025
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Consulting Energy: From Judgment to Decision-Making.
Routledge
Routledge
Academic monograph
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Movement and Meaning for Oil and Gas Data Vendors.
Allegra Lab
Academic article
2024
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2024)
Energy Capitol: The Waning of Regulatory Form.
Routledge
Routledge
Academic monograph
2023
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2023)
Empathy for the Graph.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2023)
Synnøve K. N. Bendixsen and Edvard Hviding: Anthropology in Norway: Directions, Locations, Relations.
Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift
Book review
-
Carson, Siri Granum;
Munro, Bjoern Jenssen,;
Johnsen, Geir;
Mason, Arthur.
(2023)
En bærekraftig fremtid for Svalbard
– er utvinning av dyphavsmineraler
en del av svaret?.
Feature article
2022
-
Mason, Arthur;
Hepsø, Vidar.
(2022)
Timescaping the Arctic with Real-Time Data. Challenges for Fishing and Oil Interests.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Arctic Late Industrialism: Extracting Value through Abstraction.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Representation Without Resemblance: Graphical Expression in Hydrocarbon Industry.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
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.
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Deluxe energy: Newly commodified regimes of luxurious energy.
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.
Chapter
2016
-
Mason, Arthur;
Watts, Michael;
Appel, Hannah.
(2016)
Oil Talk.
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)
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.
Chapter
2015
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Growth Imperative: Intermediaries, Discourse Frameworks, and the Arctic.
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Naming an Endless Process of Indigenization.
Current Anthropology
Book review
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Inside the Energy Salon: Installation and Illusions of Finality.
Journal of business anthropology
Academic article
2013
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2013)
Cartel Consciousness and Horizontal Integration in Energy Industry.
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2013)
Homo Energeticus: Maturity, Inheritance, Identity.
Environmental Research Letters
Academic article
2012
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2012)
Natural Gas Industry Restructuring as Ethnographic Present.
The Polar Journal
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2012)
Corporeality of Consultant Expertise in Arctic Natural Gas Development.
Journal of Northern Studies
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.
Chapter
2008
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Vanguard Alutiiq Heritage Practice and the Import of Expertise.
Études Inuit Studies (EIS)
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Neglected Structures of Governance in US-Canadian Cross-Border Relations.
American Review of Canadian Studies
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Of Enlightenment and Alaska Early Moderns.
Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power
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)
Modernity and Decay of Alaska's Natural Gas Pipeline.
University of California Berkeley
University of California Berkeley
Doctoral dissertation
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2004)
Arctic Natural Gas: Reserves and Production.
Chapter
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
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Masters thesis
Journal publications
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Movement and Meaning for Oil and Gas Data Vendors.
Allegra Lab
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2023)
Synnøve K. N. Bendixsen and Edvard Hviding: Anthropology in Norway: Directions, Locations, Relations.
Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift
Book review
-
Carson, Siri Granum;
Munro, Bjoern Jenssen,;
Johnsen, Geir;
Mason, Arthur.
(2023)
En bærekraftig fremtid for Svalbard
– er utvinning av dyphavsmineraler
en del av svaret?.
Feature article
-
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 Abstractive Industry: Assessing the Valuable and Vulnerable North.
Cultural Anthropology Hot Spots
Popular scientific article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2016)
Arctic energy image: hydrocarbon aesthetics of progress and form.
Polar Geography
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Naming an Endless Process of Indigenization.
Current Anthropology
Book review
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Inside the Energy Salon: Installation and Illusions of Finality.
Journal of business anthropology
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2013)
Homo Energeticus: Maturity, Inheritance, Identity.
Environmental Research Letters
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2012)
Natural Gas Industry Restructuring as Ethnographic Present.
The Polar Journal
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2012)
Corporeality of Consultant Expertise in Arctic Natural Gas Development.
Journal of Northern Studies
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)
Neglected Structures of Governance in US-Canadian Cross-Border Relations.
American Review of Canadian Studies
Academic article
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Of Enlightenment and Alaska Early Moderns.
Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power
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.
(2025)
Consulting Energy: From Judgment to Decision-Making.
Routledge
Routledge
Academic monograph
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2024)
Energy Capitol: The Waning of Regulatory Form.
Routledge
Routledge
Academic monograph
-
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.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Mason, Arthur;
Hepsø, Vidar.
(2022)
Timescaping the Arctic with Real-Time Data. Challenges for Fishing and Oil Interests.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Arctic Late Industrialism: Extracting Value through Abstraction.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Representation Without Resemblance: Graphical Expression in Hydrocarbon Industry.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
From Northern Lights to Fluorescent Lights.
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Deluxe energy: Newly commodified regimes of luxurious energy.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2018)
Consulting Arctic Energy.
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur;
Watts, Michael;
Appel, Hannah.
(2016)
Oil Talk.
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2016)
Events Collectives: The Social Life of a Promise-Disappointment Cycle.
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Growth Imperative: Intermediaries, Discourse Frameworks, and the Arctic.
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2013)
Cartel Consciousness and Horizontal Integration in Energy Industry.
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2010)
Whither the Historicities of Alutiiq Heritage Work are Drifting.
Chapter
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2004)
Arctic Natural Gas: Reserves and Production.
Chapter
Report
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2004)
Modernity and Decay of Alaska's Natural Gas Pipeline.
University of California Berkeley
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
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Masters thesis