Arthur Mason
Om
Arthur Mason is Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at NTNU with research appointments at London School of Economics, SOAS University of London, and University of St Andrews. His work on energy worlds employs an anthropology of surfaces to examine expertise as modes of style and judgment. At NTNU, he co-founded the Anthropologies of Sustainability group and is a founding member of NTNU Energy's Team Society.
His current book project, Excursions, explores sites where intellectual life becomes scenographic – where ideas emerge in movement, architecture, weather, ritual, and travel rather than through departmental procedure.
He is the author of Island of Inland Empire (2026) and editor of Arctic Abstractive Industry (2022). His Routledge trilogy Inside the Energy Salon traces the performance of expertise in late-liberal governance. His forthcoming research program, The Future of the Promenade, explores climate change and urban leisure geographies.
Mason has held visiting appointments at Rice University, University of California at Berkeley, and University of Calgary. His research has been supported by the US National Science Foundation, the Fulbright Program (US-Norway, US-Russia, US-Canada), Wenner-Gren Foundation, Ciriacy-Wantrup Fellowship, and European Research Council Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship, among others. He holds degrees from University of California at Berkeley, Columbia University, and University of Alaska Fairbanks. ORCID & ResearcherID: I-3946-2014.
Research and Teaching Areas
- Extractive industries and resource governance
- Anthropology of surfaces and curated interactions
- Environmental futures and global inequality
- Neo-aristocracy and aesthetics
Books
- Excursions (forthcoming).
- The Corridor of Impact (with Michael Watts, forthcoming).
- Heritage and Arctic Late Industrialism in Alaska: Island of Inland Empire. Routledge, 2026.
- Energy Images: Aesthetics of Resemblance and Form. Routledge, 2026.
- Consulting Energy: From Judgment to Decision-Making. Routledge, 2025.
- Energy Capitol: The Waning of Regulatory Form. Routledge, 2024.
- Arctic Abstractive Industry: Assembling the Valuable and Vulnerable North. Berghahn Press, 2022.
- Subterranean Estates: Life Worlds of Oil and Gas. Cornell University Press, 2016.
In the Media
- Seminar lecture at SOAS: Continuous Clarity: Strategic Knowledge without Falter
- Movement and Meaning for Oil and Gas Data Vendors. Allegra Lab
- Advocating Slow Policy on Deep Sea Mining in the Svalbard Archipelago. Beyond Hot Air
- Anthropology in Norway: Directions, Locations, Relations. Norway Anthropology Journal
Publikasjoner
2026
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2026)
Heritage and Arctic Late Industrialism in Alaska: Island of Inland Empire.
Routledge
Routledge
Vitenskapelig monografi
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2026)
Energy Images: Aesthetics of Resemblance and Form.
Routledge
Routledge
Vitenskapelig monografi
2025
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Consulting Energy.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
The Energy Salon.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Conscious Parallelism.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Corporeality of Eureka Knowledge Events.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Seignorial Energy.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Doppler Affect of Energy Socials.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Virtuous Energy.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur;
Bendixsen, Synnøve Kristine Nepstad;
Weszkalnys, Gisa.
(2025)
Advocating Slow Policy on Deep Sea Mining in the Svalbard Archipelago: Reflections on the Making Use of Arctic Science Workshop.
Beyond Hot Air
Leserinnlegg
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Consulting Energy: From Judgment to Decision-Making.
Routledge
Routledge
Vitenskapelig monografi
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Movement and Meaning for Oil and Gas Data Vendors.
Allegra Lab
Vitenskapelig artikkel
2024
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2024)
Submission and Involvement.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2024)
The Waning Reflection of Status and Collusion.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2024)
Millennial Energy.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2024)
Energy Capitol: The Waning of Regulatory Form.
Routledge
Routledge
Vitenskapelig monografi
2023
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2023)
Empathy for the Graph.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2023)
Synnøve K. N. Bendixsen and Edvard Hviding: Anthropology in Norway: Directions, Locations, Relations.
Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift
Anmeldelse
-
Carson, Siri Granum;
Munro, Bjoern Jenssen,;
Johnsen, Geir;
Mason, Arthur.
(2023)
En bærekraftig fremtid for Svalbard
– er utvinning av dyphavsmineraler
en del av svaret?.
Kronikk
2022
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Arctic Late Industrialism: Extracting Value through Abstraction.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Representation Without Resemblance: Graphical Expression in Hydrocarbon Industry.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Arctic Abstractive Industry: Assembling the Valuable and Vulnerable North.
Berghahn Books
Berghahn Books
Vitenskapelig monografi
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
From Northern Lights to Fluorescent Lights.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Deluxe energy: Newly commodified regimes of luxurious energy.
Faglig kapittel
2019
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2019)
Consulting virtue: from judgement to decision-making in the natural gas industry.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Vitenskapelig artikkel
2018
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2018)
Consulting Arctic Energy.
Faglig kapittel
2017
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2017)
Paparazzi Ethnography: An Anthropology of Surfaces and Curated Interactions.
Annet
2016
-
Mason, Arthur;
Watts, Michael;
Appel, Hannah.
(2016)
Oil Talk.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2016)
Arctic Abstractive Industry: Assessing the Valuable and Vulnerable North.
Cultural Anthropology Hot Spots
Populærvitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur;
Watts, Michael;
Appel, Hannah.
(2016)
Subterranean Estates: Life Worlds of Oil and Gas.
Cornell University Press (CUP)
Cornell University Press (CUP)
Vitenskapelig monografi
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2016)
Arctic energy image: hydrocarbon aesthetics of progress and form.
Polar Geography
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2016)
Events Collectives: The Social Life of a Promise-Disappointment Cycle.
Faglig kapittel
2015
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Growth Imperative: Intermediaries, Discourse Frameworks, and the Arctic.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Naming an Endless Process of Indigenization.
Current Anthropology
Anmeldelse
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Inside the Energy Salon: Installation and Illusions of Finality.
Journal of business anthropology
Vitenskapelig artikkel
2013
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2013)
Cartel Consciousness and Horizontal Integration in Energy Industry.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2013)
Homo Energeticus: Maturity, Inheritance, Identity.
Environmental Research Letters
Vitenskapelig artikkel
2012
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2012)
Natural Gas Industry Restructuring as Ethnographic Present.
The Polar Journal
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2012)
Corporeality of Consultant Expertise in Arctic Natural Gas Development.
Journal of Northern Studies
Vitenskapelig artikkel
2011
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2011)
Forms of Time in Alaska Natural Gas Development.
Polar Record
Vitenskapelig artikkel
2010
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2010)
Whither the Historicities of Alutiiq Heritage Work are Drifting.
Faglig kapittel
2008
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Vanguard Alutiiq Heritage Practice and the Import of Expertise.
Études Inuit Studies (EIS)
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Neglected Structures of Governance in US-Canadian Cross-Border Relations.
American Review of Canadian Studies
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Of Enlightenment and Alaska Early Moderns.
Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power
Vitenskapelig artikkel
2007
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2007)
Rise of Consultant Forecasting in Liberalized Natural Gas Markets.
Public culture
Vitenskapelig artikkel
2006
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2006)
Images of the Energy Future.
Environmental Research Letters
Vitenskapelig artikkel
2005
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2005)
The Condition of Market Formation on Alaska’s Natural Gas Frontier.
Focaal: Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2005)
Registering Discontinuity in Energy Market Analysis.
Knowledge, Technology and Policy
Vitenskapelig artikkel
2004
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2004)
Modernity and Decay of Alaska's Natural Gas Pipeline.
University of California Press
University of California Press
Doktorgradsavhandling
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2004)
Arctic Natural Gas: Reserves and Production.
Faglig kapittel
2002
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2002)
The Rise of an Alaska Native Bourgeoisie.
Études Inuit Studies (EIS)
Vitenskapelig artikkel
1996
-
Mason, Arthur.
(1996)
In a Strange Turn of Events: How Alutiiq Cultural Pride became a Commodity.
University of Alaska Press
University of Alaska Press
Mastergradsoppgave
Tidsskriftspublikasjoner
-
Mason, Arthur;
Bendixsen, Synnøve Kristine Nepstad;
Weszkalnys, Gisa.
(2025)
Advocating Slow Policy on Deep Sea Mining in the Svalbard Archipelago: Reflections on the Making Use of Arctic Science Workshop.
Beyond Hot Air
Leserinnlegg
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Movement and Meaning for Oil and Gas Data Vendors.
Allegra Lab
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2023)
Synnøve K. N. Bendixsen and Edvard Hviding: Anthropology in Norway: Directions, Locations, Relations.
Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift
Anmeldelse
-
Carson, Siri Granum;
Munro, Bjoern Jenssen,;
Johnsen, Geir;
Mason, Arthur.
(2023)
En bærekraftig fremtid for Svalbard
– er utvinning av dyphavsmineraler
en del av svaret?.
Kronikk
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2019)
Consulting virtue: from judgement to decision-making in the natural gas industry.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2016)
Arctic Abstractive Industry: Assessing the Valuable and Vulnerable North.
Cultural Anthropology Hot Spots
Populærvitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2016)
Arctic energy image: hydrocarbon aesthetics of progress and form.
Polar Geography
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Naming an Endless Process of Indigenization.
Current Anthropology
Anmeldelse
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Inside the Energy Salon: Installation and Illusions of Finality.
Journal of business anthropology
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2013)
Homo Energeticus: Maturity, Inheritance, Identity.
Environmental Research Letters
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2012)
Natural Gas Industry Restructuring as Ethnographic Present.
The Polar Journal
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2012)
Corporeality of Consultant Expertise in Arctic Natural Gas Development.
Journal of Northern Studies
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2011)
Forms of Time in Alaska Natural Gas Development.
Polar Record
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Vanguard Alutiiq Heritage Practice and the Import of Expertise.
Études Inuit Studies (EIS)
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Neglected Structures of Governance in US-Canadian Cross-Border Relations.
American Review of Canadian Studies
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2008)
Of Enlightenment and Alaska Early Moderns.
Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2007)
Rise of Consultant Forecasting in Liberalized Natural Gas Markets.
Public culture
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2006)
Images of the Energy Future.
Environmental Research Letters
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2005)
The Condition of Market Formation on Alaska’s Natural Gas Frontier.
Focaal: Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2005)
Registering Discontinuity in Energy Market Analysis.
Knowledge, Technology and Policy
Vitenskapelig artikkel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2002)
The Rise of an Alaska Native Bourgeoisie.
Études Inuit Studies (EIS)
Vitenskapelig artikkel
Bøker
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2026)
Heritage and Arctic Late Industrialism in Alaska: Island of Inland Empire.
Routledge
Routledge
Vitenskapelig monografi
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2026)
Energy Images: Aesthetics of Resemblance and Form.
Routledge
Routledge
Vitenskapelig monografi
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Consulting Energy: From Judgment to Decision-Making.
Routledge
Routledge
Vitenskapelig monografi
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2024)
Energy Capitol: The Waning of Regulatory Form.
Routledge
Routledge
Vitenskapelig monografi
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Arctic Abstractive Industry: Assembling the Valuable and Vulnerable North.
Berghahn Books
Berghahn Books
Vitenskapelig monografi
-
Mason, Arthur;
Watts, Michael;
Appel, Hannah.
(2016)
Subterranean Estates: Life Worlds of Oil and Gas.
Cornell University Press (CUP)
Cornell University Press (CUP)
Vitenskapelig monografi
Del av bok/rapport
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Consulting Energy.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
The Energy Salon.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Conscious Parallelism.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Corporeality of Eureka Knowledge Events.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Seignorial Energy.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Doppler Affect of Energy Socials.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2025)
Virtuous Energy.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2024)
Submission and Involvement.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2024)
The Waning Reflection of Status and Collusion.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2024)
Millennial Energy.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2023)
Empathy for the Graph.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Arctic Late Industrialism: Extracting Value through Abstraction.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Representation Without Resemblance: Graphical Expression in Hydrocarbon Industry.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
From Northern Lights to Fluorescent Lights.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2022)
Deluxe energy: Newly commodified regimes of luxurious energy.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2018)
Consulting Arctic Energy.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2017)
Paparazzi Ethnography: An Anthropology of Surfaces and Curated Interactions.
Annet
-
Mason, Arthur;
Watts, Michael;
Appel, Hannah.
(2016)
Oil Talk.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2016)
Events Collectives: The Social Life of a Promise-Disappointment Cycle.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2015)
Growth Imperative: Intermediaries, Discourse Frameworks, and the Arctic.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2013)
Cartel Consciousness and Horizontal Integration in Energy Industry.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2010)
Whither the Historicities of Alutiiq Heritage Work are Drifting.
Faglig kapittel
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2004)
Arctic Natural Gas: Reserves and Production.
Faglig kapittel
Rapport
-
Mason, Arthur.
(2004)
Modernity and Decay of Alaska's Natural Gas Pipeline.
University of California Press
University of California Press
Doktorgradsavhandling
-
Mason, Arthur.
(1996)
In a Strange Turn of Events: How Alutiiq Cultural Pride became a Commodity.
University of Alaska Press
University of Alaska Press
Mastergradsoppgave
Undervisning
Emner
Formidling
2026
-
Vitenskapelig foredragMason, Arthur. (2026) Ethically Ordained Repair: Heritage Practice from Ruins. Care and repair: temporalities of securing life in the urban , Fylkesmannsboligen, Trondheim 05.05.2026 - 06.05.2026
2025
-
Vitenskapelig foredragMason, Arthur. (2025) Visual Place-Making Through the Offshore Oil Platform. Research Seminar , NTNU 15.09.2025 - 15.09.2025
-
Vitenskapelig foredragMason, Arthur; Ritter, Christian Simon. (2025) The Future Promenade: A Climate-Changed Form. The Future Promenade , Le Havre 24.06.2025 - 01.07.2025
-
Vitenskapelig foredragMason, Arthur. (2025) Antropocene Decay and the Aesthetics of Renewal. Umistelig - Norsk Antropologisk Forenings konferanse 2025 , University of Oslo 24.10.2025 - 26.10.2025
-
Vitenskapelig foredragMason, Arthur. (2025) Accounting Energy Futures: Natural Gas Expertise and Geopolitics. Troubling Accounts: the relations, politics and ethics of reckoning climate and environmental change , Geneva 17.06.2025 - 19.06.2025
-
Vitenskapelig foredragMason, Arthur. (2025) Continuous Clarity: Strategic Knowledge without Falter. Continuous Clarity: Strategic Knowledge without Falter , SOAS University of London 10.12.2025 - 10.12.2025
2024
-
Vitenskapelig foredragMason, Arthur. (2024) Surprise. Contested Keywords for Anthropological Methods , London School of Economics 16.12.2024 - 17.12.2024
-
Vitenskapelig foredragMason, Arthur. (2024) The Waning of Regulatory Form. EASA2024: Doing and Undoing with Anthropology , Barcelona 23.07.2024 - 26.07.2024