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Temperature and Capital: Measuring the Future with Quantified Heat

Temperature and Capital: Measuring the Future with Quantified Heat Temperature and Capital Measuring the Future with Quantifi ed Heat Scott W. Schwartz ABSTRACT: Th e quantifi cation of human environments has a history—a relatively short history. Th is article explores how the notion of quantifi able reality has become natu- ralized through the privileging of predictive utility as the primary goal of knowledge production. Th is theme is examined via the invention and application of tempera- ture—how it was sociomaterially constructed and how it is globally restructuring social organization today. Temperature does not exist pervasively throughout all space and time. Physicists may affi rm that fl uctuations in relative heat are ubiquitous, but as a measurement of these fl uctuations, temperature only emerges through arrange- ments of political and environmental observations. What phenomena do populations deem worthy of observation? How do populations manipulate materials to make such observations? By tracing the origins of thermometry and investigating modern eff orts to reconstruct and model ulterior temperatures, I illustrate that temperatures, like other measurements, are cultural artifacts pliable to sociopolitical eff orts of control and domination. KEYWORDS: Anthropocene, capitalism, global warming, measurement, risk, temperature, uncertainty My iPhone tells me the temperature this Saturday will be 99°F. Is this appliance of http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Environment and Society Berghahn Books

Temperature and Capital: Measuring the Future with Quantified Heat

Schwartz, Scott W.
Environment and Society , Volume 8 (1) – Sep 1, 2017
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Publisher
Berghahn Books
Copyright
© 2020 Berghahn Books
ISSN
2150-6779
eISSN
2150-6787
DOI
10.3167/ares.2017.080109
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Temperature and Capital Measuring the Future with Quantifi ed Heat Scott W. Schwartz ABSTRACT: Th e quantifi cation of human environments has a history—a relatively short history. Th is article explores how the notion of quantifi able reality has become natu- ralized through the privileging of predictive utility as the primary goal of knowledge production. Th is theme is examined via the invention and application of tempera- ture—how it was sociomaterially constructed and how it is globally restructuring social organization today. Temperature does not exist pervasively throughout all space and time. Physicists may affi rm that fl uctuations in relative heat are ubiquitous, but as a measurement of these fl uctuations, temperature only emerges through arrange- ments of political and environmental observations. What phenomena do populations deem worthy of observation? How do populations manipulate materials to make such observations? By tracing the origins of thermometry and investigating modern eff orts to reconstruct and model ulterior temperatures, I illustrate that temperatures, like other measurements, are cultural artifacts pliable to sociopolitical eff orts of control and domination. KEYWORDS: Anthropocene, capitalism, global warming, measurement, risk, temperature, uncertainty My iPhone tells me the temperature this Saturday will be 99°F. Is this appliance of

Journal

Environment and Society – Berghahn Books

Published: Sep 1, 2017

Keywords: Anthropocene;capitalism;global warming;measurement;risk;temperature;uncertainty

References