MODERNIZATION OF CONFIDENCE - QUALITY ASS URANCE AS DECONTEXTUALIZATION OF INDUSTRIAL SUBCONTRACTING

Quality assurance is an institution typical of the global economy in t he context of advanced modernity. It decontextualizes economic behavio ur in time and space (Luhmann, Giddens). An empirical study of the rel ations between Alcan Canada Ltd. and five subcontracting firms operati ng in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean area of Quebec shows that the abstra ct and extralocal standards of quality assurance transform the subcont ractors social processes of selection and performance evaluation. The participation of quality assurance experts in the inter-firm relations hips lessens the reliance on traditional relationships of trust, in fa vour of a new trust in abstract systems and expertise.