2006/05/01 by Andrew Barry · 1 voice · 8 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Energy · #Global Energy and Sustainability Research #Natural Resources and Economic Development #Private Equity and Venture Capital
paper · doi:10.1177/1368431006063343
openalex publication_date 2006/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/19
This article provides an overview of the analysis of technological zones. A technological zone can be understood as a space within which differences between technical practices, procedures and forms have been reduced, or common standards have been established. Such technological zones take broadly one of three forms: (1) metrological zones associated with the development of common forms of measurement; (2) infrastructural zones associated with the creation of common connection standards; and (3) zones of qualification which come into being when objects and practices are assessed according to common standards and criteria. The article argues that technological zones can have more or less clear borders, but such borders increasingly do not correspond to the borders of nation-states. Through a discussion of the global oil industry, some of the ways in which the formation of technological zones has become critical to contemporary economic and political life are examined.