Governing through standards | Standardization devices in the governance of sustainable development

This project aims at analyzing the changes in political practices induced by standardization devices created in the name of sustainable development in the agro-food and forest sectors. "Standardization devices" are defined here as both a set of principles or specifications elaborated in multistakeholder fora, and control mechanisms - most often certification procedures. The standardization devices we study share three main features: their adoption is voluntary; they are based on an agreement produced by bringing together heterogeneous points of view; they are potentially directed towards a large number of actors. Our main hypothesis is that standardization devices illustrate the emergence of new technologies of government that articulate knowledge, power relations and subjectivation. The concepts of "liberal governmentality" and "government at a distance" will be used to analyze the systematic, deliberative and participatory practices in the contemporary world. Finally, recent works on global governance, and more specifically works analyzing it as a way "to govern without government" will also be mustered. The research project will be organized in three main tasks. The first task will aim at providing a better understanding of why new standardization devices emerge. We will adopt here a historical and a global perspective to analyse the political and institutional implications of standardization devices. Four main questions will be adressed: (a) standardization practices will be analyzed from a historical point of view (consultation of archives); (b) standard-setting traditions will be identified through the study of three national standardization agencies (United Kingdom, France and Australia); (c) discourses of various international organisations in the field of agriculture and development will be analysed to determine how standardization fits within the "governance discursive regime" and refers to specific notions of participation and empowerment; (d) finally, the regulating potential of standardization devices will be assessed, based on a case study on forest certification. The second and third tasks will shed light on the implications, practices, processes and power struggles that structure the formulation and the implementation (application/control) of standards. The second task will focus on the analysis of multistakeholder standard-setting devices. Case studies will include French fora on biodiversity, and international roundtables on soy, palm oil, and social standards in agriculture. The objective is to determine who participates in the elaboration of the standard, how participation is organized, how the notion of "sustainablity" is defined, what the role of expertise is, and how the local/global levels interact within the standard-setting process. The third task will concentrate on how the actors use the standards, and on the political role of supervision devices such as third part certification. This should lead to a typology of conformity assessment schemes. In parallel to the academic work, reflexive workshops will be organised, bringing together private firm representatives and foreign researchers specialized on standardization issues. Finally, a graduate seminar will be organized at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po. Paris). The project team will be multidisciplinary and will include civil society representatives. The scientific team gathers social scientists, economists and agronomists. High level international researchers will be involved either through short term participation (research seminars, training sessions) or through the scientific management of the project (scientific committee). NGOs will also be involved within a reflexive partnership.