Description
Book SynopsisRevealing the hidden yet powerful dynamic of international standards in contemporary global political economy, this book will appeal to practitioners active in economic and political affairs, as well as graduate students and scholars across various fields, including political science, sociology, economics, and business and organisational studies. This book is also available as Open Access.
Trade Review'This volume makes a significant contribution to scholarship on global governance. It traces the 'power of standards' and its connections to 'hybrid authority'. Steering clear of simplifications, the volume emphasizes the generic ambiguity of the standards that define the status of public and private actors, the issues and the spaces of global governance that in turn redefine the standards. The volume does this moving from an overarching analysis of the trade in services, to an analysis of the insurance industry and the outsourcing of business processes to India. Graz offers a refreshingly non-dogmatic, empirically grounded engagement with the questions surrounding who governs, how and with what implications in the contemporary world.' Anna Leander, Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement, Geneva
'Standardisation, originating from the world of engineers and production companies, is now also being applied for services and complex technical and societal systems. Its increasing importance for shaping business and society challenges the role of governments. This book provides better understanding.' Henk J. de Vries, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
'The Power of Standards is a must-read book for all those interested in the functioning of transnational regulation, hybrid authority and present-day spaces of globalization. Drawing empirically on the services industry and on India in particular, Graz provides insightful theoretical reflections on how ambiguity confers authority across sovereign spaces, and thus informs key current debates in international relations and international political economy.' Stefano Ponte, Copenhagen Business School
Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. The rise of transnational hybrid authority: a primer; 2. Service offshoring: the new frontier of globalisation; 3. Standards as regulation; 4. Doubling security: prudential standards for insurance regulation; 5. Standards to create new insurance markets; 6. The world office; 7. Standards and business process outsourcing in India; Conclusions.
