The Quiet Power of Indicators

The Quiet Power of Indicators
Author: Sally Engle Merry
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2015-05-19
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1316299597

Using a power-knowledge framework, this volume critically investigates how major global indicators of legal governance are produced, disseminated and used, and to what effect. Original case studies include Freedom House's Freedom in the World indicator, the Global Reporting Initiative's structure for measuring and reporting on corporate social responsibility, the World Justice Project's measurement of the rule of law, the World Bank's Doing Business index, the World Bank-supported Worldwide Governance Indicators, the World Bank's Country Performance Institutional Assessment (CPIA), and the Transparency International Corruption (Perceptions) index. Also examined is the use of performance indicators by the European Union for accession countries and by the US Millennium Challenge Corporation in allocating US aid funds.

The Quiet Power of Indicators

The Quiet Power of Indicators
Author: Sally Engle Merry
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2015-05-26
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1107075203

This highly accessible book investigates the rankings that increasingly influence perceptions of countries' governance and civil rights.

Governance by Indicators

Governance by Indicators
Author: Kevin Davis
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 504
Release: 2012-07-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0199658242

Indicators and rankings are widely used by governments and organisations to assess the effectiveness, efficiency, and success of policy decisions. This book evaluates the creation of indicators, their impact on policy decisions, and the implications of their use.

The Seductions of Quantification

The Seductions of Quantification
Author: Sally Engle Merry
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2016-06-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 022626131X

We live in a world where seemingly everything can be measured. We rely on indicators to translate social phenomena into simple, quantified terms, which in turn can be used to guide individuals, organizations, and governments in establishing policy. Yet counting things requires finding a way to make them comparable. And in the process of translating the confusion of social life into neat categories, we inevitably strip it of context and meaning—and risk hiding or distorting as much as we reveal. With The Seductions of Quantification, leading legal anthropologist Sally Engle Merry investigates the techniques by which information is gathered and analyzed in the production of global indicators on human rights, gender violence, and sex trafficking. Although such numbers convey an aura of objective truth and scientific validity, Merry argues persuasively that measurement systems constitute a form of power by incorporating theories about social change in their design but rarely explicitly acknowledging them. For instance, the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report, which ranks countries in terms of their compliance with antitrafficking activities, assumes that prosecuting traffickers as criminals is an effective corrective strategy—overlooking cultures where women and children are frequently sold by their own families. As Merry shows, indicators are indeed seductive in their promise of providing concrete knowledge about how the world works, but they are implemented most successfully when paired with context-rich qualitative accounts grounded in local knowledge.

The Power of Global Performance Indicators

The Power of Global Performance Indicators
Author: Judith G. Kelley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 453
Release: 2020-03-19
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1108487203

Shows how global ratings and rankings shape political agendas and influence states' behavior, reframing how we think about power.

Designing Indicators for a Plural Legal World

Designing Indicators for a Plural Legal World
Author: Siddharth Peter de Souza
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2022-09-30
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1316514897

It pluralises the conversation around legal indicators by considering the diversity of law and legal institutions in the Global South.

The Palgrave Handbook of Indicators in Global Governance

The Palgrave Handbook of Indicators in Global Governance
Author: Debora Valentina Malito
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 542
Release: 2017-11-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3319627074

This volume brings together both academic and institutional perspectives to examine the production, use and contestation of indicators in global governance. It provides a unique and comprehensive guide to the latest research in the study of indicators and their use in global governance and policy making. The editors provide a guide to the recent vast body of literature and practice on measuring governance and measurement as governance at the global level, and present a state-of-the-art analysis of social science research on indicators at both the transnational and the global level. The Handbook brings together scholars from a variety of disciplines and perspectives, as well as policy-makers from international organisations and non-government organisations working in the field. This volume will be a valuable resource for students and academics in the fields of public policy, administration and management, international relations, political science, law, and globalisation, as well as policy makers and practitioners.

Cultural Heritage in the European Union

Cultural Heritage in the European Union
Author: Andrzej Jakubowski
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 528
Release: 2019-05-15
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9004365346

Cultural Heritage in the European Union provides a critical analysis of the laws and policies which address cultural heritage throughout Europe, considering them in light of the current challenges faced by the Union. The volume examines the matrix of organisational and regulatory frameworks concerned with cultural heritage both in the Union and its Members States, as well as their interaction, cross-fertilisation, and possible overlaps. It brings together experts in their respective fields, including not only legal, but also cultural economists, heritage professionals, government representatives, and historians. The diverse backgrounds of the authors offer a cross-disciplinary approach and a variety of views which allows an in-depth scrutinisation of the latest developments pertaining to cultural heritage in Europe.

The Fictions of Latin American Law and their Strategic Uses

The Fictions of Latin American Law and their Strategic Uses
Author: Jorge L. Esquirol
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2019-11-21
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1107178398

Challenges the distorted hegemonic accounts of Latin American law and reveals their geopolitical and economic consequences in the world today.