About the Talk
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with energy financiers in Houston, Texas, Sean Field explores how experts use a lexicon of models and metrics to conceptualize and construct allegories about future hydrocarbon projects and companies. Dr. Field shows that allegorical narratives built with this lexicon advance a kind of energy ethics – distinguishing what is good and advocating for particular energy futures. As the energy industry pivots toward renewables, Dr. Field argues that these metrics, models and allegories are coming to bear on new forms of extraction. This talk is based on a recent paper, Carbon Capital: The Lexicon and Allegories of US Hydrocarbon Finance.

About the Presenter
Sean Field is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Energy Ethics and in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews. Since late2018, his research has focused on how financial professionals ethically and financially value energy. His ethnographic work explores the calculation of risk, the performance of financial expertise, the valuation of energy resources, and the integration of ESG into investment practices.

A key implication of his research is that the world of finance is central to the materialization of our collective energy and anthropogenic landscapes. Dr. Field's project is part of the larger Energy Ethics research project led by Dr. Mette High and funded by the European Research Council.