Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

All Outputs (102)

Problem solving as selective blindness (2024)
Journal Article
Abram, S. (2024). Problem solving as selective blindness. Critique of Anthropology, 44(3), 256-275. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308275x241269606

This article examines the practices associated with technical solutions to energy transitions. In particular, it considers the role of ‘problem solving’ as a partial view on the world with extraordinary influence. As the core epistemological practice... Read More about Problem solving as selective blindness.

Hydrogen-fueled transportation as a measure for climate change mitigation: Social perspectives (2023)
Book Chapter
Ling-Chin, J., Turner, B., Abram, S., Giampieri, A., But, B., Abad, A. V., & Roskilly, A. P. (2024). Hydrogen-fueled transportation as a measure for climate change mitigation: Social perspectives. . Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-443-18515-1.00005-8

Due to the technical requirements and diversity in business models, use cases, and organizational structures, hydrogen is perceived as a possible means for decarbonizing the freight sector. This chapter presents the qualitative research conducted in... Read More about Hydrogen-fueled transportation as a measure for climate change mitigation: Social perspectives.

Kinning and De-kinning: Houses, Heirlooms and the Reproduction of Family (2023)
Journal Article
Abram, S., & Lien, M. E. (2023). Kinning and De-kinning: Houses, Heirlooms and the Reproduction of Family. Social Anthropology, 31(3), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.3167/saas.2023.310302

‘Kinning and De-kinning’ introduces a special issue that considers how houses, heirlooms and other owned items reproduce kinship and family in diverse societies. It revisits death and inheritance in kinship studies, with a focus on processes of ‘pass... Read More about Kinning and De-kinning: Houses, Heirlooms and the Reproduction of Family.

Passing It On: Kinship, Temporality and Moral Personhood in Norwegian ‘Hytte’ Succession (2023)
Journal Article
Lien, M. E., & Abram, S. (2023). Passing It On: Kinship, Temporality and Moral Personhood in Norwegian ‘Hytte’ Succession. Social Anthropology, 31(3), 33-50. https://doi.org/10.3167/saas.2023.310304

In this article we explore the inheritance of hytte, or secondary homes, in Norway. Inspired by the notion of ‘kinning’, we extend the notion of kinning to include various materialities and temporalities. In particular, we trace the passing on of the... Read More about Passing It On: Kinship, Temporality and Moral Personhood in Norwegian ‘Hytte’ Succession.

Habits Over Routines: Remarks on Control Room Practices and Control Room Studies (2022)
Journal Article
Silvast, A., Virtanen, M., & Abram, S. (2022). Habits Over Routines: Remarks on Control Room Practices and Control Room Studies. Computer Supported Cooperative Work, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-022-09460-5

The evolution of computer tools has had profound impacts on many aspects of control rooms and control room studies. In this paper, we discuss some key assumptions underpinning these studies based on a new case of the electricity distribution control... Read More about Habits Over Routines: Remarks on Control Room Practices and Control Room Studies.

Just Transition: A whole-systems approach to decarbonisation (2022)
Journal Article
Abram, S., Atkins, E., Dietzel, A., Jenkins, K., Kiamba, L., Kirshner, J., …Santos Ayllón, L. M. (2022). Just Transition: A whole-systems approach to decarbonisation. Climate Policy, 22(8), 1033 - 1049. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2022.2108365

Transition to a post-carbon economy implies changes that are both far-reaching and unprecedented. The notion that a decarbonization transition must encompass multiple forms of justice is gaining ground. In response, the concept of Just Transition has... Read More about Just Transition: A whole-systems approach to decarbonisation.

Electricity as a Field for Anthropological Theorising and Research (2022)
Book Chapter
Abram, S. (2022). Electricity as a Field for Anthropological Theorising and Research. In M. H. Bruun, A. Wahlberg, R. Douglas-Jones, C. Hasse, K. Hoeyer, D. B. Kristensen, & B. R. Winthereik (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of the Anthropology of Technology (741-755). (1). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7084-8_38

What is electricity? Is it a natural force, a technology, or an infrastructural system? Is electricity a flow of electrons or an electromagnetic effect? Is it a liberating power or a silent killer? Is it even a thing that can be grasped? However we d... Read More about Electricity as a Field for Anthropological Theorising and Research.

Energy transition in Brazil: Is there a role for multilevel governance in a centralized energy regime? (2021)
Journal Article
Lazaro, L., Soares, R., Bermann, C., Collaço, F., Giatti, L., & Abram, S. (2022). Energy transition in Brazil: Is there a role for multilevel governance in a centralized energy regime?. Energy Research and Social Science, 85, Article 102404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102404

Energy transition requires systematic changes, not only to energy technologies but also to the broader political, social, environmental, and economic assemblages that are built around energy production and consumption. Changes in the energy supply an... Read More about Energy transition in Brazil: Is there a role for multilevel governance in a centralized energy regime?.

Energy systems integration as research practice (2021)
Journal Article
Silvast, A., Abram, S., & Copeland, C. (2023). Energy systems integration as research practice. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, 35(3), 302-313. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537325.2021.1974376

This article adopts frameworks and methods from Science and Technology Studies for examining Energy Systems Integration (ESI). ESI, the integrated operation and planning of multiple energy supplies and demands, can contribute to improvements in energ... Read More about Energy systems integration as research practice.

Inheriting Kinship: Norwegian Holiday Property as Relational Practice (2020)
Book Chapter
Abram, S. (2020). Inheriting Kinship: Norwegian Holiday Property as Relational Practice. In M. Holdgaard, A. Magnusdottir, & B. Selmer (Eds.), Nordic inheritance law through the ages (251-271). Brill Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004435582_013

This chapter approaches inheritance as a form of intergenerational gift, with reference to anthropological theories of exchange and kinship. In doing this, it considers a particular kind of property, the Norwegian holiday home, and the distinctive pr... Read More about Inheriting Kinship: Norwegian Holiday Property as Relational Practice.

What do energy modellers know? An ethnography of epistemic values and knowledge models (2020)
Journal Article
Silvast, A., Laes, E., Abram, S., & Bombaerts, G. (2020). What do energy modellers know? An ethnography of epistemic values and knowledge models. Energy Research and Social Science, 66, Article 101495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101495

This article considers academic energy modelling as a scientific practice. While models and modelling have been of considerable interest in energy social science research, few studies have brought together approaches from philosophy of science and an... Read More about What do energy modellers know? An ethnography of epistemic values and knowledge models.

Likhet Is Not Equality: Discussing Norway in English and Norwegian (2019)
Book Chapter
Abram, S. (2019). Likhet Is Not Equality: Discussing Norway in English and Norwegian. In S. Bendixsen, M. Bringslid, & H. Vike (Eds.), Egalitarianism in Scandinavia. Approaches to Social Inequality and Difference (87-108). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59791-1_4

This chapter considers some views of Norwegian egalitarianism from the outside. English-language accounts of the Norwegian state describe a welfare state marked by national egalitarianism. This chapter argues that such an impression is misleading, an... Read More about Likhet Is Not Equality: Discussing Norway in English and Norwegian.

Ownership and belonging in urban green space (2018)
Book Chapter
Abram, S., & Blandy, S. (2018). Ownership and belonging in urban green space. In T. Xu, & A. Clarke (Eds.), Legal strategies for the development and protection of communal property (177-201). Oxford University Press

This paper uses a case study of an urban public park to re-problematize the notion of common urban green space. The chapter examines connections between: legal property ownership of parks which are accessible to the public; arrangements for governanc... Read More about Ownership and belonging in urban green space.

Actors, networks, and translation hubs: Gas central heating as a rapid socio-technical transition in the United Kingdom (2017)
Journal Article
Hanmer, C., & Abram, S. (2017). Actors, networks, and translation hubs: Gas central heating as a rapid socio-technical transition in the United Kingdom. Energy Research and Social Science, 34, 176-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2017.03.017

To achieve UK government targets to reduce carbon emissions by 80% on 1990 levels by 2050 will require a radical shift in domestic heating practices, which are currently dominated by gas central heating,1 installed in 82% of UK homes (Palmer and Coop... Read More about Actors, networks, and translation hubs: Gas central heating as a rapid socio-technical transition in the United Kingdom.

Contemporary Obsessions with Time and the Promise of the Future (2017)
Book Chapter
Abram, S. (2017). Contemporary Obsessions with Time and the Promise of the Future. In J. F. Salazar, S. Pink, A. Irving, & J. Sjöberg (Eds.), Anthropologies and futures : researching emerging and uncertain worlds (61-82). Bloomsbury Academic