The Social Sciences of Quantification: From Politics of Large Numbers to Target-Driven Policies (Logic, Argumentation & Reasoning (13))

This book details how quantification can serve both as evidence and as an instrument of government, whether when dealing with statistics on employment, occupational health and economic governance, or when developing public management or target-driven policies. In the process, it presents a thought-provoking homage to Alain Desrosières, who pioneered ways to study large numbers and the politics underlying them. It opens with a summary of Desrosières's contributions to the field in which several generations of researchers detail how this statistician and historian profoundly influenced them. This tribute, based on personal testimonies, bears witness to the vitality of the school of thought and analytical framework Desrosières initiated. Next, a collection of essays explores the statistical argument in the neoliberal era, examining issues such as counting the homeless in Europe, measuring the performance of public services, and quantifying the effects of public action on the unemployed in France. The third part details the uses of quantification. It reveals that although statistics are frequently used to the advantage of those in power, they can also play a vital role in challenging and resisting both the conventions underlying the measurements as well as the measurements themselves. Featuring the work of economists, historians, political scientists, sociologists, and statisticians, this title provides readers with a thoughtful look at an influential figure in the history of statistics. It also shows how statistics are used to direct public policy, the degree of conflict that is possible in their production, and the disputes that can develop around their uses. Contents 7 List of contributors 9 1. Introduction. The Social Sciences of Quantification in France: An Overview 12 Abstract 12 1. The development of the social sciences of quantification 13 1.1. A socio-history of quantification 13 1.2. Quantification: between science and politics 14 1.3. A rich and creative contribution taken up by too few economists 16 2. Meetings that gave birth to a common project 18 3. Outline of the book 20 Conclusion 23 Reference List 24 Part I Sociology of Quantification: Alain Desrosières’s contributions 26 2. Introduction to the work of Alain Desrosières: the history and sociology of quantification 27 Abstract 27 References 40 3. Alain Desrosières’s reflexive numbers 42 Abstract 42 1. The situation of Alain Desrosières and his work 42 2. The questions at the heart of Alain Desrosières’s work 44 2.1. The possibility of a social science 45 2.2. The question of social critique 46 3. Science and the State 47 4. Social critique and critique of statistical reasoning 48 5. The conservative critique of statistics and/or social groups 49 6. Alain Desrosières’s final battle 50 References 51 4. Alain Desrosières’s spectacles: one lens realist, the other constructivist23 52 Abstract 52 1. Constructing the narrative 53 2. From statistics to politics 56 3. The constructor question 58 References 62 5. From statistics to international quantification: a dialogue with Alain Desrosières 63 Abstract 63 1. The technical dimension of quantification: how and why 63 2. The history of quantification: the link between statistics and policy 64 3. The construction of a theory and the birth of a field of research 66 4. Statistics and institutions: a programmatic link 67 5. The actors and professionals involved in statistics 68 6. The history and sociology of quantification in IGOs 69 References 72 6. Learning from the history of the probabilistic revolution: the French school of Alain Desrosières 74 Abstact 74 1. The meeting with sociology 74 2. The Probabilistic Revolution as a historical and sociological tool 75 3. Considering contemporary quantifications 77 4. The improbable conjunction of the sociologies of quantification 80 References 81 Part II The Statistical Argument in the Neoliberal Era 87 7. Quantifying the effects of public action on the unemployed: disputes between experts and the rethinking of labour market policies in France (1980-2000) 88 Abstract 88 1. When the social sciences seized control of labour market policy evaluation 89 1.1. Measuring the effects of labour market policies: the innovation of sample surveys 89 1.2. Institutionalization of evaluation of public policies and opposition to the neo-liberal approach of the French Ministry of Finance 91 1.3. Statisticians and experts defending heterodox knowledge 92 2. The imposition of econometrics and neoliberalism in the first decade of the 21st century 92 2.1.Experimental methods to measure the ‘pure’ effect of public action on the back-to-work rate 93 2.2.The import of experimental surveys into France by a new generation of economists 94 2.3.Rethinking anti-unemployment policies and the uses of econometric evaluations 95 Conclusion 97 References 98 8. Counting the homeless in Europe: ‘compare before harmonising’ 101 Abstract 101 1. ‘In order to measure an object, it has to have been described’39 102 2. The charity sector and the state 105 2.1. What is to be measured stocks or flows? 105 2.2. Full count or sample survey? 106 2.3. Registration of the homeless or survey of reception centre/hostel managers? 106 3. Divisions between countries 107 3.1. Statistical and legal categories 108 3.2. Purpose of interventions and the unit of count (household vs. individual) 108 3.3. Uses and modes of presenting the data 109 References 111 9. The statistical backbone of the new European economic governance: the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure Scoreboard 113 Abstract 113 1. From indicators to sanctions 114 1.1. The qualities of the indicators 114 1.2. From the Scoreboard to sanctions 115 1.3. Indicators as proofs of imbalances 116 2. The Scoreboard 117 2.1. Exports as the way out? 117 2.2. Cutting wages to foster competitiveness 118 2.3. Watching bubbles, finally? 119 2.4. Unemployment: a measure of the rigidity of economies? 120 3. The disequilibria of the Scoreboard 121 3.1. The Commission’s deflationary model 121 3.2. Two persistent imbalances: excess profits and inequalities 121 3.3. Oversight of the social dimension 122 References 123 10. Evaluating public policies or measuring the performance of public services? 126 Abstract 126 1. Measuring the product in service activities: a question of convention 128 1.1. Labor and work in service activities 128 1.2. Service economies and the imperceptibility of productivity 128 1.3. Public services 130 2. The shift away from public policy evaluation towards performance measurement in (public) services 130 2.1. Increasingly scientistic methods 131 2.2 State performance and management systems 131 2.3. Shift away from the social welfare state to the state as ‘service provider’ 132 3. The nature of ‘total performance’ 133 3.1.The modalities of total performance 134 3.2.The institutions of total performance 134 Conclusion 135 References 136 Part III Uses of Quantification : Power and Resistance 139 11. Private accounting, statistics and national accounting in France: a unique relationship (1920-1960s) 140 Abstract 140 1. Private accounting and national accounting from their origins to the liberation : a conceptual analogy (beginning of the 20th century to 1944). 141 1.1. The conditions for collaboration 141 1.2. The use of data gathers pace in Vichy France 142 2. Analogies in practice: from the liberation to the creation of the expert committee (1945-1951) 143 2.1. Continuing the work required for a planned economy 143 2.2. economists have their day 144 3. Developing expertise, gaining autonomy (1952-1956) 145 3.1. The development of a unique method 145 3.2. A strong influence on accounting standardisation 146 4. Compromise à la française (1957-1965) 147 4.1. The CNC 147 4.2. Implementing the new accounting obligations 147 Conclusion 148 References 148 12. Figures for what purposes? The issues at stake in the struggles to define and control the uses of statistics 150 Abstract 150 1. An ethnography of occupational health statistics 151 1.1. Quantification as an activity 152 1.2. The uses of statistics as objects of analysis 153 2. From the production of statistics to their uses 154 2.1. The resort to quantification and the question of legitimation 155 2.2. Quantification and its part in the doctors’ work 155 2.3. Conflicting uses and modification of the quantification systems 156 3. Reappraising the sociology of statistical argument 158 References 160 13. The uses of quantification: power and resistance. The example of unemployment statistics 162 Abstract 162 1. The ‘unemployment figures’: what are we talking about? 163 2. The unemployment figures become objects of controversy and criticism 164 3. ACDC: the origins of the controversy 166 4. The unemployment statistics create a troubled spring 167 5. The repercussions of the controversy 168 6. What was the outcome of the ACDC experiment? 169 References 171 14. Statistical argument: construction, uses and controversies. Prices and purchasing power 172 Abstract 172 1. Putting the concept of 'purchasing power' into perspective 173 1.1. What do we understand by purchasing power? History and definition 173 1.2. Using the retail price index to assess purchasing power: necessary for indexation but a necessarily imperfect convention 174 2. Origin and emergence of the concept of purchasing power: a constantly debated convention 176 2.1. The price index controversy of the 1970s 176 2.2. The adoption of a 'tobacco-free' index in the 1990s 177 2.3. The controversial effects of the euro on the consumer price index (CPI) 178 3. A politically very sensitive indicator, vulnerable to the threats hanging over public statistics 180 4. Widening the perspective: Europe and Eurostat 181 References 182 15. The quantification of the social sciences: an historical comparison119 183 Abstract 183 1. Quantifying 184 2. Inferring and interpreting: history and sociology 185 3. Inferring and interpreting: political science, economics and psychology 188 4. Critiquing commensuration: the role of context in history and sociology 190 5. Critiques and their uses: political science, economics and psychology 192 6. Returning the gaze: what the various social sciences have to say on the subject 195 7. Economics: a world apart? 198 References 201 This book details how quantification can serve both as evidence and as an instrument of government, whether when dealing with statistics on employment, occupational health and economic governance, or when developing public management or target-driven policies. In the process, it presents a thought-provoking homage to Alain Desrosières, who pioneered ways to study large numbers and the politics underlying them. It opens with a summary of Desrosières's contributions to the field in which several generations of researchers detail how this statistician and historian profoundly influenced them. This tribute, based on personal testimonies, bears witness to the vitality of the school of thought and analytical framework Desrosières initiated. Next, a collection of essays explores the statistical argument in the neoliberal era, examining issues such as counting the homeless in Europe, measuring the performance of public services, and quantifying the effects of public action on the unemployed in France. The third part details the uses of quantification. It reveals that although statistics are frequently used to the advantage of those in power, they can also play a vital role in challenging and resisting both the conventions underlying the measurements as well as the measurements themselves.Featuring the work of economists, historians, political scientists, sociologists, and statisticians, this title provides readers with a thoughtful look at an influential figure in the history of statistics. It also shows how statistics are used to direct public policy, the degree of conflict that is possible in their production, and the disputes that can develop around their uses. -- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction. The Social Sciences of Quantification in France: An Overview....Pages 1-14 Front Matter....Pages 15-15 Introduction to the work of Alain Desrosières: the history and sociology of quantification....Pages 17-31 Alain Desrosières’s reflexive numbers....Pages 33-42 Alain Desrosières’s spectacles: one lens realist, the other constructivist....Pages 43-53 From statistics to international quantification: a dialogue with Alain Desrosières....Pages 55-65 Learning from the history of the probabilistic revolution: the French school of Alain Desrosières....Pages 67-79 Front Matter....Pages 81-81 Quantifying the effects of public action on the unemployed: disputes between experts and the rethinking of labour market policies in France (1980-2000)....Pages 83-95 Counting the homeless in Europe: ‘compare before harmonising’....Pages 97-108 The statistical backbone of the new European economic governance: the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure Scoreboard....Pages 109-121 Evaluating public policies or measuring the performance of public services?....Pages 123-135 Front Matter....Pages 137-137 Private accounting, statistics and national accounting in France: a unique relationship (1920-1960s)....Pages 139-148 Figures for what purposes? The issues at stake in the struggles to define and control the uses of statistics....Pages 149-160 The uses of quantification: power and resistance. The example of unemployment statistics....Pages 161-170 Statistical argument: construction, uses and controversies. Prices and purchasing power....Pages 171-181 The quantification of the social sciences: an historical comparison....Pages 183-204