“Islands of Qualities in an Ocean of Quantification”: A Conversation with Wendy Espeland and Michael Sauder

José Ossandón; Wendy Espeland; Michael Sauder

doi:10.3384/VS.2001-5992.2021.8.2.103-121

Authors

José Ossandón Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2927-1878
Wendy Espeland Department of Sociology, Northwestern University
Michael Sauder Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of Iowa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3384/VS.2001-5992.2021.8.2.103-121

Keywords:

valuation, rankings, reactivity, higher education, management, commensuration

Abstract

In this interview, Wendy Espeland and Michael Sauder both reflect on their work on rankings, reactivity and commensuration, and think about the implication their sociological work could have on the practices of those dealing with rankings and their reactive effects.

Author Biographies

José Ossandón, Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School

José Ossandón is Associate Professor in the Organization of Markets, Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School. He specializes in economic sociology, social studies of finance, and social studies of markets. His current collaborative research efforts focus on two main areas, the work and techniques deployed in the organization of markets designed to deal with collective problems, and, on the different actors and practices involved in managing households' finance. He is co-editor-in-chief of Valuation Studies and senior editor of The Journal of Cultural Economy.

Wendy Espeland, Department of Sociology, Northwestern University

Wendy Espeland is Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University. She has published in the areas of organizations, culture, law, and science and technology studies, with an emphasis on understanding quantification as a formative social process. Her 2016 book, with Michael Sauder, Engines of Anxiety: Academic Rankings, Reputations, and Accountability examines how efforts to evaluate institutions reshape them.

Michael Sauder, Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of Iowa

Michael Sauder specializes in the sociology of organizations, theory, culture, and inequality. His recent research has appeared in American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, and Administrative Science Quarterly. Sauder's 2016 book with Wendy Espeland, Engines of Anxiety: Educational Rankings, Reputation, and Accountability (Russell Sage Foundation), is the culmination of an extensive project examining the unintended consequences of accountability measures on the individuals, organizations, and fields that they assess.

References

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