STS, 標準化與全球治理

Standards are ubiquitous in our modern society. From food, transportation, health, to space and time, standards dictate every aspect of our daily life. However, explaining the power of control and governance possessed by standards have been one of the most puzzled but important questions for science studies, quoting Wittgenstein “there is one thing of which one can say neither that it is one metre long, nor that it is not one metre long, and that is the standard metre in Paris.” What does Wittgenstein argue about the meter bar standard? Why does such a mundane object, along with other “trivial” standards, deserve to be studied? Drawing from classic STS literature, this course investigates the socio-political origins, the power and impacts of standards/standardization in innovation, and modernity building, and globalization. In particular, we will focus on the following questions: ● What are the historical, social and cultural roots of standards? Where do their authority and “universality” come from? ● How do standards travel? Does the technical perfectness guarantee its social robustness? ● What roles does standard/standardization play in shaping the way we define ourselves, our society and the world? ● Who are involved in standard making? Which countries/organizations control the process of standardization? What social and political mechanisms are used to achieve consensus? What does “consensus” mean in a diverse social setting? ● Why certain standards work in one country, but completely failed in another? ● Do standards promote or suppress innovation? facilitate globalization or nationalism? Public goods or privatization? ● How do local, national and transnational stakeholders interact under international standardization?

This is an English lectured course.

Class attendance and presentation 40% Midterm essay 30% Term project 30%

Alder, Ken (2003) The measure of all things. Free Press. Busch, L. (2011). Standards: recipes for reality. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Lampland and Leigh Star (2008) Standards and Their Stories. Cornell University Press. Russell, Andrew (2014). Open Standards and the Digital Age: History, Ideology, and Networks. Cambridge University Press. Yates, JoAnne & Murphy, Craig (2019) Engineering Rules: Global Standard Setting since 1880. John Hopkins University Press.