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This thesis explores the political significance of the rise of international standards on contemporary societies and questions the participatory dynamics of consumers' representatives within nonstate forms of power, using the case of the International organization for standardization (ISO). The power granted to international standards and other technical specifications raises important democratic issues regarding the representativity of standard- writers, the public-private relationships involved in this form of governance or the expertise sustaining the recognition of such new forms of power. The participation of civil society associations affect such issues in complex ways. This research relies on international relations/international political economy approaches of nonstate authority and takes inspiration from the concept of translation developed by science and technology studies to highlight the crucial role played by technical specifications in building a consumer society based on the freedom of choice as well as how consumers' associations take stock of standardization arenas to promote collective issues and claim their expertise and identity. This thesis argues that consumers contribute to the construction of the authority of international standards through their role in the translation that links international standards to the market society, the regulatory state as well as to societal preoccupation. The analysis is based on an ethnographic observation of deliberations within an ISO technical committee, a research-action, interviews as well as on the consultation of ISO archives. ; Cette thèse explore les implications politiques de la montée en puissance des normes internationales sur nos sociétés contemporaines et pose la problématique des dynamiques participatives des représentants des consommateurs au sein des formes de pouvoir non étatique à l'aide du cas de l'Organisation internationale de normalisation (ISO). Le renforcement du pouvoir des normes internationales et autres spécifications techniques ...

This article examines the participation of civil society organisations (CSO) in the various arenas of global governance with focus on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). While diverse studies recognise the difficulty of CSOs' participation despite the growing importance of standards in the organisation of markets, little attention has been paid to how such involvement is likely to be reinforced in what we call 'technical diplomacy', the negotiating processes involving states and non-state actors geared toward setting specifications claiming to be based on scientific knowledge. Drawing upon scholarship in new forms of regulation in organisational studies, international relations, and science and technology studies, the paper argues that CSOs' participation depends on multiple translation practices between lay- and expert-knowledge. Findings are based on an action-research project, INTERNORM, pooling academic and CSO participation in ISO technical committees. It suggests some promising directions for addressing the democratic deficit of technical diplomacy.

This paper explores the plurality of institutional environments in which standards for the service sector are expected to support the rise of a global knowledge-based economy. A wide range of international bodies is able to define standards affecting the internationalization of services. Relying on global political economy approaches, the analysis uncovers the power relations underpinning the various forms of standards supporting a deeper integration of the market for services. Service standards are conceived as heterogeneous forms of transnational hybrid authority. The empirical study focuses on recent developments in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the European Union, and the US. In contrast to conventional views opposing the American system to the ISO/European framework, the paper argues that institutional developments of service standards are likely to face trade-offs and compromises reflecting contrasting models of standardization, not only between, but also across, those systems. While this undermines the conventional analysis of a transatlantic divide in standardization, it also shows that the variance between product and service standards is much greater in the European context and the ISO system than in the US, where it is hardly debated.

This paper explores the plurality of institutional environments in which standards for the service sector are expected to support the rise of a global knowledge-based economy. Despite the careful wording of the World Trade Organization (WTO), a whole range of international bodies still have the capacity to define technical specifications affecting how services are expected to be traded on worldwide basis. The analysis relies on global political economy approaches to extend to the area of service standards the assumption that the process of globalization is not opposing states and markets, but a joint expression of both of them including new patterns and agents of structural change through formal and informal power and regulatory practices. It analyses on a cross-institutional basis patterns of authority in the institutional setting of service standards in the context of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), the European Union, and the United States. In contrast to conventional views opposing the American system to the ISO/European framework, the paper questions the robustness of this opposition by showing that institutional developments of service standards are likely to face trade-offs and compromises across those systems and between two opposing models of standardisation.

This contribution explores the role of international standards in the rules governing the internationalisation of the service economy. It analyses on a cross-institutional basis patterns of authority in the institutional setting of service standards in the European and Amercian context. The entry into force of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995 gave international standards a major role in harmonising the technical specifications of goods and services traded on the global market Despite the careful wording of the WTO, a whole range of international bodies still have the capacity to define generic as well as detailed technical specifications affecting how swelling offshore services are expected to be traded on worldwide basis. The analysis relies on global political economy approaches to identify constitutive patterns of authority mediating between the political and the economic spheres on a transnational space. It extends to the area of service standards the assumption that the process of globalisation is not opposing states and markets, but a joint expression of both of them including new patterns and agents of structural change through formal and informal power and regulatory practices. The paper argues that service standards reflect the significant development of a form of transnational hybrid authority, that blurs the distinction between private and public actors, whose scope spread all along from physical measures to societal values, and which reinforces the deterritorialisation of regulatory practices in contemporary capitalism. It provides evidence of this argument by analysing the current European strategy regarding service standardization in response to several programming mandate of the European Commission and the American views on the future development of service standards.

Cet article présente les résultats de la recherche-action INTERNORM qui visait à favoriser l'implication des acteurs associatifs dans l'élaboration des normes internationales de type ISO. Il analyse les effets d'un dispositif participatif sur l'environnement institutionnel de la diplomatie technique et contribue à une réflexion sur la démocratisation du champ de la normalisation internationale. Cette réflexion se situe au croisement des travaux de relations internationales sur les nouvelles formes de gouvernance de la mondialisation et des études sociales des sciences et des techniques.

This paper presents the results of the INTERNORM action-research designed to support the involvement of not-for-profit organisations in international standard setting bodies such as the ISO. It analyses how a participatory mechanism can influence the institutional environment of technical diplomacy, and reflects on the democratisation of the field of international standardisation. This reflection draws upon international relations literature on new forms of global governance and social studies of science and technology.

This paper presents the first results of the INTERNORM pilot project funded by the University of Lausanne (2010 - 2014) to support the involvement of civil society organisations (CSO) in two ISO technical committees (TC), the ISO TC 228 on "tourism and related services" and the ISO TC 229 on "nanotechnologies". It analyses how a distinct participatory mechanism can influence the institutional environment of technical diplomacy in which standards are shaped. The project is an attempt to respond to the democratic deficit attested in the field of international standardisation, formally open to civil society participation, but still largely dominated by expert knowledge and market players. Many international standards have direct implications on society as a whole, but CSOs (consumers and environmental associations, trade unions) are largely under-represented in negotiation arenas. The paper draws upon international relations literature on new institutional forms in global governance and studies of participation in science and technology to address three questions: to which extent do CSOs identify participation in standardisation as worth of their mobilisation? How is the pluralisation of knowledge and expertise supporting CSO position during the deliberation? To which extent can CSO access and influence standardisation beyond their consultative role? It argues that there are significant limitations to the rise of civil society participation in such global governance mechanisms. Despite high entry costs into technical diplomacy, participation is not so much a matter of upstream engagement, or of procedure and resources only, than of opportunistic CSOs mobilization, of distinct thematic incentives and concrete outcomes to be expected in standardisation arenas or in the broader use of international standards.

Our paper presents a pilot project (INTERNORM) funded by the University of Lausanne to support the involvement of not-for-profit organisations in international standard setting bodies such as the ISO. It analyses preliminary results on how a distinct participatory mechanism can influence the institutional environment of technical diplomacy in which ISO standards are developed. It reflects on the contribution of innovative deliberative mechanisms to democratise the field of international standardisation, largely dominated by expert knowledge and market players. It draws upon international relations literature on new institutional forms in global governance and social studies of science on participatory issues in science-society relations. The paper argues that there are significant limitations to the rise of civil society participation in such global governance mechanisms and examines several types of barriers to the involvement of not-for-profit organisations in ISO standard-setting processes. Notre communication porte sur un projet pilote (INTERNORM) financé par l'Université de Lausanne pour favoriser l'implication des acteurs associatifs dans l'élaboration des normes internationales de type ISO. Elle analyse les effets d'un dispositif participatif sur l'environnement institutionnel très particulier de la diplomatie technique ayant cours à l'ISO. Elle présente les résultats intermédiaires d'une réflexion sur l'apport de dispositifs délibératifs pour démocratiser le champ de la normalisation internationale, largement dominé par le savoir expert et les acteurs économiques. Elle situe cette réflexion au croisement des travaux de relations internationales sur les nouvelles formes institutionnelles de la gouvernance de la mondialisation et des études sociales des sciences et des techniques sur la participation dans les rapports science - société. En identifiant plusieurs registres dans lesquels situer les difficultés d'une plus grande implication des acteurs associatifs dans les procédures d'élaboration de ...

This paper presents a pilot project (INTERNORM) funded by the University of Lausanne (2010 - 2013) to support the involvement of civil society organisations (CSO) in international standard setting bodies such as the ISO. It analyses how a distinct participatory mechanism can influence the institutional environment of technical diplomacy in which standards are shaped. The project is an attempt to respond to the democratic deficit attested in the field of international standardisation, formally open to civil society participation, but still largely dominated by expert knowledge and market players. Many international standards have direct implications on society as a whole, but CSOs (consumers and environmental associations, trade unions) are largely under-represented in negotiation arenas. The paper draws upon international relations literature on new institutional forms in global governance and studies of participation in science and technology. It argues that there are significant limitations to the rise of civil society participation in such global governance mechanisms. The INTERNORM project has been designed as a platform of knowledge exchange between CSO and academic experts, with earmarked funding and official membership to a national standardisation body. But INTERNORM cannot substitute for a long- established lack of resources in time, money and expertise of CSOs. Despite high entry costs into technical diplomacy, participation thus appears as less a matter of upstream engagement, or of procedure only, than of dedicated means to shift the geometry of actors and the framing of socio-technical change.