STUDYING STANDARDIZATION: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Patrick Feng’
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
This paper reviews the literature on standards, looking in particular at how scholars
in the social sciences have approached the topic. I begin by discussing various
historical meanings and motivations for standardization. Next I examine various
approaches to studying standards, distinguishing between development contexts and
social effects of standar&, as well asfirnctionalist and constructivist viewpoints. I
then point out some recurring themes in the study of standardization such as the
relationship between global and local orders and r o k of standards as social
technologies. I close by suggesting some possible lines forfurther inquiry.
tandardization is a hot topic these days. Though traditionally mainly a subject of interest to technologists
and the occasional economist, scholars in various social science disciplines have shown newfound interest S in standards.’ In part this is because standards, like other technologies, are no longer seen as ”neutral
artifacts” but as products of society, and thus of relevance to social science. In part it is also because
standardization has become big business: firms spend a great deal of time and money in tracking indusny
standards and making their produns.compatible with those of other firms. Standards are crucial for the
functioning of many technologies and, with the rise of “the network society” (Castells 1996), have become a -i
prominent issue in discussions of science and technology policy.
The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on standardization. I begin by discussing various
approaches researchers have adopted with respect to studying standards. I then point out some recurring themes
in the study of standardization and suggest some possible lines for further inquiry.
Changing Meanings of Standardization
The meanings and motivations of standardization are multiple and have changed over time. In this section I
review some of the meanings that standardization has taken on over the past two centuries. why have certain
people, at certain times, promoted (or resisted) certain conceptions of standardization? what functions do
standards serve? I identify five possible meanings or motivations for standardization: (1) uniformity in
production; (2) compatibility between technologies; (3) objectivity in measurement; (4) as a means for justice;
and ( 5 ) as a form of hegemony.
Before embarking on this investigation it may be useful to sketch what I mean by standardization. The
fact that the meanings and motivations of the term have changed over time suggests that it will not be easy to
define standardization in a strict way. Nevertheless, I propose the following definition as an orientation to the
rest of this paper: by standardization I mean the process by which the form or function of a particular artifact or
technique comes to be specified. The specifications that result--codes, rules, guidelines, and so on-are called
stanhrds. In this paper, I will restrict my discussion of standards to explicit specifications, so as to distinguish
standards from norms, habits, customs, and other tacitly understood rules of practice. Thus, I am defining
standardization to be the process by which explicit specifications for the form or function of a particular
technology are created.
’ The author would like to acknowledge the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, whose support
helped make this work passible.
’ See, e.g., David and Greenstein (1990) for a review of economic perspectives an stmdardization; Schmidt and Werle
(1998) for B more sociological perspective.
0-7803-8/72-6/03/$17.00 02003 IEEE.