The Social Life of Standards (Paperback)

Janice E. Graham

ISBN 10: 0774865229 / ISBN 13: 9780774865227

Published by University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, 2022

About this Item

Paperback. 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 reveals how standards political and technical tools for organizing society are developed, applied, subverted, contested, and reassembled by local communities interacting with norms often created by others. Contributors explore standards at work across different countries and contexts, such as Ebola biomedical safety precautions in Senegal, Colombian farmers contesting politicized seed regulations, and the application of Indigenous standards to Canadian environmental assessments. They emphasize the uncomfortable fit between the inconsistent implementation of standards in the real world and the non-negotiable criteria presupposed by external forces.The Social Life of Standards provides support for a reflexive process that involves local engagement. Ultimately, the goal should be to reach a balance between evidence-based science and the social contexts that can inform more useful and appropriate standards. The Social Life of Standards reveals how political and technical tools for organizing society are developed, applied, subverted, contested, and reassembled as local communities interact with standards created by external forces. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780774865227

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Social Life of Standards (Paperback)
• Publisher: University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0774865229
• ISBN 13: 9780774865227
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

A look at how various tools for organizing society are developed and contested by the people in communities they would affect.

The Social Life of Standards reveals how political and technical tools for organizing society are developed, subverted, contested, and reassembled by local communities interacting with standards created by others. The authors investigate biomedical, agricultural, and other cases to show how inconsistent implementation of standards in the real world runs up against the non-negotiable criteria presupposed by external forces. To solve these problems, they propose a new, reflexive process that involves local engagement at every stage in the production and application of standards.
 

About the Authors

Janice Graham is a professor of medicine and social anthropology at Dalhousie University. 

Christina Holmes is assistant professor of interdisciplinary health at St. Francis Xavier University.

Fiona McDonald is codirector of the Australian Centre for Health Law Research and associate professor of law at Queensland University of Technology. 

Regna Darnell is distinguished professor emerita of anthropology at Western University.