Thursday, January 19, 2012

So We're All in Agreement

Evgeny Morozov, The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 18, 2012

From the review: "Standards play a consequential role in nearly every aspect of our lives, from the quality of our food to the octane of our gasoline. They introduce predictability into our chaotic existence, sparing us unnecessary hassle, obviating routine decisions and allowing us to get on with life. It's surprising that we don't reflect on them more often…. Lawrence Busch, a sociologist at Michigan State University, has produced a stimulating account of how and why we create standards. "Standards: Recipes for Reality" is not a technical study of particular standards but an eclectic, philosophical attempt to examine how standards "are used, spoken of, employed, designed, put into common practice." Read more

See Also
Lawrence Busch, Center for the Study of Standards in Society in the Department of Sociology, Michigan State University and Centre for Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics, Lancaster University, U.K, November 2011