Standards and Their Stories

Standards and Their Stories
Author :
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Total Pages : 268
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0801474612
ISBN-13 : 9780801474613
Rating : 4/5 (12 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Standards and Their Stories by : Martha Lampland

Download or read book Standards and Their Stories written by Martha Lampland and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Standardization is one of the defining aspects of modern life, its presence so pervasive that it is usually taken for granted. However cumbersome, onerous, or simply puzzling certain standards may be, their fundamental purpose in streamlining procedures, regulating behaviors, and predicting results is rarely questioned. Indeed, the invisibility of infrastructure and the imperative of standardizing processes signify their absolute necessity. Increasingly, however, social scientists are beginning to examine the origins and effects of the standards that underpin the technology and practices of everyday life.Standards and Their Stories explores how we interact with the network of standards that shape our lives in ways both obvious and invisible. The main chapters analyze standardization in biomedical research, government bureaucracies, the insurance industry, labor markets, and computer technology, providing detailed accounts of the invention of "standard humans" for medical testing and life insurance actuarial tables, the imposition of chronological age as a biographical determinant, the accepted means of determining labor productivity, the creation of international standards for the preservation and access of metadata, and the global consequences of "ASCII imperialism" and the use of English as the lingua franca of the Internet.Accompanying these in-depth critiques are a series of examples that depict an almost infinite variety of standards, from the controversies surrounding the European Union's supposed regulation of banana curvature to the minimum health requirements for immigrants at Ellis Island, conflicting (and ever-increasing) food portion sizes, and the impact of standardized punishment metrics like "Three Strikes" laws. The volume begins with a pioneering essay from Susan Leigh Star and Martha Lampland on the nature of standards in everyday life that brings together strands from the several fields represented in the book. In an appendix, the editors provide a guide for teaching courses in this emerging interdisciplinary field, which they term "infrastructure studies," making Standards and Their Stories ideal for scholars, students, and those curious about why coffins are becoming wider, for instance, or why the Financial Accounting Standards Board refused to classify September 11 as an "extraordinary" event.


Standards and Their Stories Related Books

Standards and Their Stories
Language: en
Pages: 268
Authors: Martha Lampland
Categories: Business & Economics
Type: BOOK - Published: 2009 - Publisher: Cornell University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Standardization is one of the defining aspects of modern life, its presence so pervasive that it is usually taken for granted. However cumbersome, onerous, or s
National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education
Language: en
Pages: 136
Authors: SHAPE America - Society of Health and Physical Educators
Categories: Education
Type: BOOK - Published: 2014-03-13 - Publisher: Human Kinetics

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Focused on physical literacy and measurable outcomes, empowering physical educators to help students meet the Common Core standards, and coming from a recently
National Health Education Standards
Language: en
Pages: 0
Authors: Joint Committee on National Health Education Standards
Categories: Health education
Type: BOOK - Published: 2007 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Concluding a two-year review and revision process supported by the American Cancer Society and conducted by an expert panel of health education professionals, t
PE Metrics
Language: en
Pages: 360
Authors: SHAPE America - Society of Health and Physical Educators
Categories: Education
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018-03-05 - Publisher: Human Kinetics

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

If you are looking for the definitive resource to help you measure your students’ achievement, your search is over. PE Metrics: Assessing Student Performance
National Standards for Sport Coaches: Quality Coaches, Quality Sports
Language: en
Pages: 83
Authors: Lori Gano-Overway
Categories: Education
Type: BOOK - Published: 2020-09-15 - Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Learning

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The third edition of the National Standards for Sport Coaches outlines the standards for quality sport coaching based on the latest research and practical work