Governing through standards

Governing through standards- rather than through law and regulation- is one of the central trends that has emerged in industrialized countries since the 1980s.

This collection, edited by DIIS researchers Stefano Ponte, Peter Gibbon and Jakob Vestergaard, explains how and why standards are used as governance tools, how they are internally governed, and what effects they have in the real world. An interdisciplinary group of scholars examines standards in banking and accounting, quality management and organizational social responsibility, and sustainability standards. Applying theoretical frameworks within political economy and governmentality studies, the contributors analyze how governing through standards differs from other types of regulation. Finally, they shed light on the origins and drivers behind standards and the limitations of using standards as a governance tool.

Stefano Ponte, Peter Gibbon and Jakob Vestergaard (eds) (2011)Governing through Standards: Origins, Drivers and Limitations. Palgrave Macmillan

Contents
1. Governing through Standards: An Introduction; S. Ponte, P. Gibbon & J. Vestergaard

2. The Rise of Banking Standards and Their Limits; K. Young

3. The New Standard in Banking Regulation -From Basel II to Basel III; M. Højland & J. Vestergaard

4. Reforming Global Banking Standards: Back to the Future?; R. Lall

5. Moving Beyond Nuts and Bolts: The Complexities of Governing a Global Profession through International Standards; C. Humphrey A. Loft

6. On the Pre-history of ISO 9000: The Making of a Neo-liberal Standard; P. Gibbon & L.F. Henriksen

7. ISO 26000, Alternative Standards, and the 'Social Movement of Engineers' Involved with Standard-Setting; C.N. Murphy & J. Yates

8. Standard-setting, Certifying and Benchmarking: A Governmentality Approach to Sustainability Standards in the Agro-Food Sector; M. Djama, E. Fouilleux & I. Vagneron

9. Multi-stakeholder Initiatives for Sustainable Agriculture: The Limits of the 'Inclusiveness' Paradigm; E. Cheyns

10. Competition, 'Best Practices' and Exclusion in the Market for Social and Environmental: Standards; S. Ponte & L. Riisgaard

11. The Local Instrumentality of Global Standards: How Mexican Indigenous Communities Use FSC Certification to Foster a Furniture Production Network; D. Klooster

12. The Current Status, Limits and Future of 'Governing through Standards'; S. Ponte, P. Gibbon & J. Vestergaard

List of contributors and their affiliations (at the time of writing)
Emmanuelle Cheyns: CIRAD, Montpellier
Marcel Djama: CIRAD, Montpellier
Lasse Folke Henriksen: Danish Institute of International Studies
Eve Fouilleux: CIRAD, Montpellier
Peter Gibbon: Danish Institute of International Studies
Christopher Humphrey: Manchester Business School
Martin Højland: Danish Institute of International Studies
Dan Klooster: University of Redlands
Ranjit Lall: Bank of England's Financial Stability Directorate
Anne Loft: University of Lund
Craig Murphy: Wellesley College
Stefano Ponte: Danish Institute of International Studies
Lone Riisgaard: Danish Institute of International Studies
Isabelle Vagneron: CIRAD, Montpellier
Jakob Vestergaard: Danish Institute of International Studies
JoAnne Yates: Sloan School, MIT
Kevin Young: London School of Economics