Standardising through concepts: the power of scientific experts in international standard-setting

Abstract

This paper deals with the power of scientific experts in standard-setting. It looks at the emergence of a set of principles for food hygiene known as HACCP, and their transformation into an international standard. Scientists are key actors of standardisation, because of their ability to include potential users and standard-setters in a common process of generification and replication of practices. In the case of HACCP, this occurred through the conceptualisation of practices, that is the enunciation and encapsulation of their generic properties into an exportable formula. The paper presents the determinants and the limits of the power of scientists to undertake such inclusive tactics of standardisation.