School of Social and Political Science

Background

I'm a sociologist of science and technology, and my research aims to throw new light on their role in shaping the modern world. I work on topics such as how financial-market participants use mathematical models, how nuclear weapons systems are designed, and how those involved try to produce high-confidence knowledge of the safety and security of computer systems.  

Koray Caliskan and my new book, Inside Digital Advertising: Platforms, Power, and Material Politics, is in production at Polity Press. My book on automated trading, Trading at the Speed of Light: How Ultrafast Algorithms Are Transforming Financial Markets (also available as audiobook), was published by Princeton University Press in May 2021; read an early review by Diane Coyle. Previous books include Inventing Accuracy: A Historical Sociology of Nuclear Missile Guidance (MIT Press, 1990) and An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial Models Shape Markets (MIT Press, 2006).

Watch Donald talking about trading at Edinburgh's celebrated Library of Mistakes:

CV and publications

Full CV and Publications List

Current/recent open-access articles and working papers

Hey Big Spender: What Your Smartphone Knows About You, Donald MacKenzie, London Review of Books, August 2024 [final draft +​​ links to main sources used]

Intermediaries, Mediators and Digital Advertising's Tensions, Addie McGowan, Donald MacKenzie and Koray Caliskan, Journal of Cultural Economy, July 2024.

The Longest Second: Header Bidding and the Material Politics of Online Advertising, Donald MacKenzie, Koray Caliskan and Charlotte Rommerskirchen, Economy and Society, 2023. 

Strange Bedfellows: Consumer Protection and Competition Policy in the Making of the EU Privacy Regime, Koray Caliskan, Donald MacKenzie and Charlotte Rommerskirchen, Journal of Common Market Studies, 2023.

A Puff of Carbon Dioxide [digital advertising's carbon emissions], Donald MacKenzie, London Review of Books, January 2023 [final draft +​​ links to main sources used].

Blink, Bid, Buy: Digital Advertising and Online News, Donald MacKenzie, draft article for London Review of Books, May 2022.

Baboon Sociology? Commentary on Daniel Beunza’s Taking the Floor, Donald MacKenzie, Sociologica, May 2022.

Spoofing: Law, Materiality and Boundary Work In Futures Trading, Donald MacKenzie, Economy and Society, January 2022.

Selected earlier open-access articles and working papers

Opinion: High-frequency trading brings real benefits but still could wind up hurting the stock market – Here's why, Donald MacKenzie, Dow Jones MarketWatch, June 2021.

How to Make Money In Nanoseconds, Donald MacKenzie, Princeton Ideas, May 2021.

The War among Algorithms, Donald MacKenzie, Berfrois, April 2021.

Cookies, Pixels and Fingerprints, Donald MacKenzie, April 2021.  Draft article for the London Review of Books.

Comment on coronavirus and social sciences with Koray Caliskan in Eurozine, April 2020. Turkish translation as Virüsler ve insanlar in Gazete Duvar.

Market Devices and Structural Dependency: The Origins and Development of 'Dark Pools' Donald MacKenzie, May 2019.

Pick a nonce and try a hash [bitcoin mining] Donald MacKenzie, April 2019. Draft article for the London Review of Books Listen to Donald being interviewed by New Money Review about the article.

How Fragile Is Competition in High-Frequency Trading? Donald MacKenzie, March 2019, published on the Tabb Forum.

Counterperformativity, Alice Bamford and Donald MacKenzie, September-October 2018, published in New Left Review. Version en español, Contraperformatividad.

How Algorithms Interact: Goffman's 'Interaction Order in Automated Trading, Donald MacKenzie, June 2018

Material Signals: A Historical Sociology of High-Frequency Trading, Donald MacKenzie, May 2018, published in the American Journal of Sociology

'More dumb money than at any point in modern history', Donald MacKenzie, February 2018. Draft article on short selling for the London Review of Books

Aren't They Scared? Donald MacKenzie, January 2018. Draft article on the VIX (Volatility Index) for the London Review of Books

A Material Political Economy: Automated Trading Desk and Price Prediction in High-Frequency Trading, Donald MacKenzie, November 2016

Must Do Better, Donald MacKenzie, May 2016. Draft article for the London Review of Books

Dark Markets, Donald MacKenzie, June 2015. Draft article for the London Review of Books

Spoofing, Donald MacKenzie, May 2015. Draft article for the London Review of Books

At Cermak, Donald MacKenzie, December 2014. Draft article for the London Review of Books

Be Grateful for Drizzle, Donald MacKenzie, September 2014. Draft article for the London Review of Books

The Formula That Killed Wall Street: The Gaussian Copula and Modelling Practices in Investment Banking, Donald MacKenzie and Taylor Spears, October 2013

A device for being able to book P&L: The Organizational Embedding of the Gaussian Copula, Donald MacKenzie and Taylor Spears, October 2013

Mechanizing the Merc: The Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Rise of High-Frequency Trading, Donald MacKenzie Oct 2013

How to Make Banks Less Fragile, Donald MacKenzie, May 2013. Draft article for the London Review of Books.

Drilling Through the Allegheny Mountains: Liquidity, Materiality and High-Frequency Trading, Donald MacKenzie et al, January 2012

Chalk: Materials and Concepts in Mathematics Research. Michael J. Barany & Donald MacKenzie, Preprint Sept 2011

The Credit Crisis as a Problem in the Sociology of Knowledge. Donald MacKenzie, American Journal of Sociology, May 2011.

'The Five-Second Pause', essay for London Review of Books, Donald MacKenzie, April 2011.

Knowledge Production in Financial Markets: Credit Default Swaps, the ABX and the Subprime Crisis. Donald MacKenzie, Nov 2010

'Safer than Safe', essay review of Tett, Fool's Gold, for London Review of Books, Donald MacKenzie, June 2009

'Hedge Funds', essay for London Review of Books, Donald MacKenzie, Nov 2008

'Broker's Ear', essay for London Review of Books, Donald MacKenzie, Aug 2008

'The Credit Crisis and the End-of-the-World Trade', essay for London Review of Books, Donald MacKenzie, May 2008

'Making Things the Same', Donald MacKenzie, Feb 2008 (.pdf)

'The Finitist Accountant', David Hatherley, David Leung and Donald MacKenzie, April 2007 (.pdf file)

'Finding the Ratchet: The Political Economy of Carbon Trading', essay for London Review of Books. Donald MacKenzie, March 2007 (.pdf)

'The Material Production of Virtuality: Innovation, Cultural Geography, and Facticity in Derivatives Markets. Donald MacKenzie, December 2006 (.pdf)

'Humming the Wedding March', essay for London Review of Books. Donald MacKenzie, November 2006 (.pdf file)

'Assembling an Economic Actor: The Agencement of a Hedge Fund', Iain Hardie, Donald MacKenzie, May 2006 (.pdf file)

Qualifications

• BSc (University of Edinburgh)
• PhD (University of Edinburgh)