Daniel Breslau

Daniel Breslau, Associate Professor

_{Department of Science, Technology, and Society

131 Lane Hall

Blacksburg, VA 24061

540-231-8472 | dbreslau@vt.edu}

Daniel Breslau works at the intersection of Economic Sociology and Science and Technology Studies, with a focus on the sociology and politics of electricity markets. He is interested in the ways that the politics of climate and energy transition interact with the politics and science of market institutions. His has published widely on the history and sociology of the social sciences, particularly on their role in the formation of modern institutions.

Principal Areas of Research Focus

Economic sociology
Sociology of the social sciences
Politics of energy markets
STS studies of economics

Education

PhD, University of Chicago

Professional Roles

Council Member, Society for Social Studies of Science

Awards and Honors

Robert K. Merton Book Award, American Sociological Association, 2000
Outstanding Dissertation Advisor Award, Virginia Tech, 2006, 2008

Publications

Books

Breslau, Daniel. 1998. In Search of the Unequivocal: The Political Economy of Measurement in US Labor Market Policy. Westport, Conn.: Praeger.

Journal Articles

Breslau, Daniel. 2013. “Designing a Market-like Entity: Economics in the Politics of Market Formation.” Social Studies of Science 43 (6): 829–51. doi:10.1177/0306312713493962.

Breslau, Daniel. 2011. “What Do Market Designers Do When They Design Markets? Economists as Consultants to the Redesign of Wholesale Electricity Markets in the U.S.” In Social Knowledge in the Making, edited by Charles Camic, Neil Gross, and Michèle Lamont, 379–403. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Breslau, Daniel. 2007. “The American Spencerians: Theorizing a New Science.” In Sociology in America: A History, edited by Craig Calhoun, 39–62. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Breslau, Daniel. 2003. “Economics Invents the Economy: Mathematics, Statistics, and Models in the Work of Irving Fisher and Wesley Mitchell.” Theory and Society 32 (3): 379–411.

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