Worlds of Rankings

Leopold Ringel is Lecturer in Sociology at Bielefeld University, Germany. He works in the areas of organizational sociology, political sociology, and sociological theory and studies the impact of transparency on organizations and the institutionalization of rankings. Wendy Espeland is Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University, USA. She works in the areas of quantification, organizations, culture, and social theory. Michael Sauder is Professor of Sociology at the University of Iowa, USA. His research interests include the study of luck and inequality, the organizational effects of quantification, and the diffusion of ideas. Tobias Werron is Professor of Sociological Theory at Bielefeld University, Germany. His research interests include competition, nationalism, globalization and practices of theorizing.

Chapter 1. Worlds of Rankings; Leopold Ringel, Wendy Espeland, Michael Sauder, and Tobias Werron

The producers of rankings

Chapter 2. Beyond Winners and Losers: Ranking Visualizations as Alignment Devices in Global Public Policy; Justyna Bandola-Gill, Sotiria Grek, and Matteo Ronzani OPEN ACCESS

Chapter 3. Stepping into the spotlight: how rankings become public performances; Leopold Ringel

Chapter 4. Between stakeholders and third parties: Regulatory rankings and the organization of competition; Afshin Mehrpouya and Rita Samiolo

The negotiation, interpretation and institutionalization of rankings

Chapter 5. Measure of Shame”: Media Career of the Global Slavery Index; Jelena Brankovic

Chapter 6. Redefining Achievement: The Emergence of Rankings in American Baseball, 1850s to 1870s; Clelia Minnetian and Tobias Werron

Chapter 7. Caring for Numbers. Creating Account-ability through Healthcare Performance Metrics in Sweden and the Netherland; Iris Wallenburg, Roland Bal, and Anna Essén

The effects of rankings

Chapter 8. The Garbage Can Model and Organizational Metrics; Michael Sauder, Hyunsik Chun, and Wendy Espeland

Chapter 9. Formality vs. Flexibility: The Effects of Evaluation Practices on Judging and Performance; Stacy Lom

Chapter 10. Ranking strategy: how organisations respond to the new competitive battlefields; Neil Pollock, Luciana D’Adderio, and Martin Kornberger