Quality: From Plato to Performance

ISBN-13: 9783030617486 / Angielski / Miękka / 2020 / 255 str.

Peter Dahler-Larsen

Spis treści

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2: A History of the Concept of Quality

Chapter 3: Quality Perspectives

Chapter 4: Quality Inscriptions: Their Makers and Their Consequences

Chapter 5: Qualitization and Models of Qualitization

Chapter 6: Quality Without Democracy

Chapter 7: Epilogue: What to Do.

O autorze

Peter Dahler-Larsen is Professor at the Department for Political Science at University of Copenhagen, where he is the leader of the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Measurement and Effects (CREME). 

Blurb

The notion of quality features prominently in contemporary discourse. Numerous ratings, rankings, metrics, auditing, accreditation, benchmarking, smileys, reviews, and international comparisons are all used regularly to capture quality. This book paves the way in exploring the socio-political implications of evaluative statements, with a specific focus on the contribution of the concept of quality to these processes. Drawing on perspectives from the history of ideas, sociology, political science and public management, Dahler-Larsen asks what is the role of quality, and more specifically quality inscriptions, such as measurement? What do they accomplish? And finally, as a consequence of all this, does the term quality make it possible to deal with public issues in a way that lives up to democratic standards?

This cross-disciplinary book will be of interest to scholars and students across various fields, including sociology, social epistemology, political science, public policy, and evaluation.