Circuits and currents
Dynamics of disruption in New York City blackouts
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2048877 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stephanie Rupp (0000-0002-2621-6972, City University of New York, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 106-118 |
| Publication date | 2016-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Economic Anthropology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2330-4847 • E-ISSN: 2330-4847 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/sea2.12048 |
| OpenAlex | W2309203975 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 12 |
Blackouts are technological breakdowns that result in social ruptures. Everyday patterns are disrupted, causing inversions of authority, creating new and spontaneous opportunities for social relationships, and offering unusual opportunities for economic benefit. Analysis of blackouts in New York City helps us to understand the role of electricity in the lives of city dwellers, their expectations of what energy should do for them, and when and how it should function. Absences of electricity provide a liminal context in which to examine the role of energy in creating and maintaining the technological and social order that we have come to expect-and demand. This article argues that, through the darkness of electrical disruption, blackouts illuminate two metaphors that connect the scientific properties of electricity with the social order shaped by electricity: circuits and currents. When the circuits of electricity are broken, currents of power in technical, social, economic, and political arenas are also disrupted
Business · Electrical engineering · Electricity · Law and economics · Liminality · Physics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Cybernetics and Technology in Society · Engineering · History · Law · Media, Communication, and Education · Rhetoric and Communication Studies
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,67 |
| Citation span | 2017 - 2024 (8) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |