Pacifying uncooperative carbon

Examining the Materiality of the Carbon Market

Bibliographic Data

ID2159756
AuthorsJohn Chung‐en Liu (0000-0001-8073-1425, Occidental College, corresponding author), John Chung-En Liu
Year2017
Volume46
Issue3-4
Pages522-544
Publication date2017-10-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEconomy and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0308-5147 • E-ISSN: 1469-5766
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03085147.2017.1408250
OpenAlexW2783548512
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited60

This paper scrutinizes how greenhouse gases are 'pacified' so that they can become tradable in the carbon markets. To advance the economization programme and other materialist frameworks, I argue that the existing literature does not pay enough attention to the diverse modes of carbon accounting and, in particular, carbon measurement – the most basic step – is overlooked and undertheorized. Drawing from the 'critical metrology' approach, I suggest that we need to take carbon's diverse materialities seriously in the study of marketization processes. Some carbons are more cooperative than others. I, therefore, argue that it is important to conceptualize 'pacification' as a dynamic process that is mediated through materials of varying capacities as well as standards and technologies. The empirical case examined here concerns carbon measurement standards at coal-fired power plants – an 'extreme case' in the sense that coal is well-understood and relatively easy to measure. My findings indicate that, even for one of the most 'cooperative' carbons, measurement uncertainties are significant and pose challenges for the marketization of carbon emissions. While human actors work to cope with these uncertainties, the contours of the market are ultimately constrained by carbon's materiality

Aesthetics · Carbon fibers · China · Epistemology · Greenhouse gas · Marketization · Materialism · Materiality (auditing · Political science · Climate Change Policy and Economics · Computer Science · Global Energy and Sustainability Research · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance · Ecology · Law

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