Books by Steffen Mau

Star ratings, scores and likes: today data is collected on almost every aspect of our lives. In this new book, Steffen Mau shows that though the intention may have been to build trust, metrics have become a form of social conditioning. Ultimately, the ubiquitous language of ranking and comparison is shaping life chances and deepening inequality.

State borders regulate cross-border mobility and determine peoples' chances to travel, work, and study across the globe. This book looks at how global mobility is defined by borders in 2011 in comparison to the 1970s. The authors trace the transformation of OECD-state borders in recent decades and show how borders have become ever more selective.

Steffen Mau introduces the concept of "the moral economy" to show that acceptance of welfare exchanges rests on moral assumptions and ideas of social justice. Analysing the institution of welfare and the public attitudes towards such schemes, the text demonstrates that people are neither selfish nor altruistic; they tend to reason reciprocally.