Standards. We apply them, uphold them, or fail to meet them. But how do they get made? Through twelve ethnographic case studies, The Social Life of Standards re

Examining the increasingly powerful role of standards in the governing of economic, political and social life, this book draws upon governmentality and actor ne

The standards of rationality are treated in this book as certain regulators of social life. They are compared to the rudders of the great vessels constituted by

Standardization is one of the defining aspects of modern life, its presence so pervasive that it is usually taken for granted. However cumbersome, onerous, or s

“A lively survey…her research and insights make us conscious of how we, today, use books.”—John Sutherland, The New York Times Book Review Two centuries