In a follow up to our newsletter of Friday last, we provide the response of Social Accountability Accreditation Services (SAAS) to the Ali Enterprises fire in Karachi. For more information, readers can visit  www.saasaccreditation.org/news.htm and http://www.sa-intl.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&pageId=1119 .

We further provide a short review of a recent book entitled  “The New Global Rulers: The Privatisation of Regulation in the World” by Tim Buthe and Walter Mattli, that has just been awarded the 2012 Best Book Award of the International Studies Association. This book addresses the role and influence of international standards bodies. “Büthe and Mattli find that global rule making by technical experts is highly political, and that even though rule making has shifted to the international level, domestic institutions remain crucial.  Influence in this form of global private governance is not a function of the economic power of states, but of the ability of domestic standard-setters to provide timely information and speak with a single voice”.

The Princeton University Press website publishing this book can be accessed at: http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9470.html.  The first chapter is available to download on PUP website at:  http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s9470.pdf