Current Economy: Electricity Markets and Techno-Economics

The book "The Current Economy" is an ethnography of electricity markets in the United States that explores the heterogenous and technologically inflected nature of economic expertise. It argues that many of the economic formations in everyday life come from work cultures rarely suspected of doing economic work, such as science, technology, and engineering.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 224 pages
\n Publication date: 15 June 2021
\n Publisher: Stanford University Press
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Electricity, a peculiar commodity, presents unique challenges when it comes to storage, transportation, and importation from overseas. Before it illuminates our homes, it undergoes a transformation through specialized electricity markets, where engineering expertise plays a pivotal role in facilitating competitive trading while adhering to the physical constraints of the electric grid.

The Current Economy, an ethnography of electricity markets in the United States, delves into the diverse and technologically intricate landscape of economic expertise in contemporary society. Through extensive ethnographic fieldwork among market data analysts, electric grid engineers, and citizen activists, this book offers a comprehensive exploration of the intricate economy of electricity and its far-reaching implications in everyday life.

Canay Özden-Schilling, in this book, posits that a significant portion of the economic formations observed in everyday life originate from work cultures that are seldom recognized for their economic contributions. These cultures, encompassing science, technology, and engineering, often lack a formal claim to economic theory or practice, yet they exert a profound influence on the shape of economic activities. This book contributes to the fields of economic anthropology, science and technology studies, energy studies, and the anthropology of expertise, providing a valuable map that outlines the everyday infrastructures of economy and energy into which we are seamlessly integrated as inhabitants of a technologically driven world.

\n Weight: 344g\n
Dimension: 152 x 230 x 18 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781503628212\n \n