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The New Politics of Numbers: An Introduction

Author

Listed:
  • Andrea Mennicken

    (LSE - London School of Economics and Political Science)

  • Robert Salais

    (IDHES - Institutions et Dynamiques Historiques de l'Économie et de la Société - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UP8 - Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - UEVE - Université d'Évry-Val-d'Essonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - ENS Paris Saclay - Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay)

Abstract

This chapter sets out what is ``new'' in the politics of numbers and this volume's approach to their study. Rather than asking what quantification is, this volume is interested in describing and analysing what quantification does, tracking and unpacking various quantification practices and their manifold consequences in different domains. The book revisits the power of numbers, and examines changing relations between numbers and democracy. It engages, for the first time, Foucault inspired studies of quantification and the economics of convention in a critical dialogue. In so doing, the volume seeks to account more systematically for the plurality of the possible ways in which numbers can come to govern, highlighting not only disciplinary effects but also the collective mobilization capacities quantification can offer.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Mennicken & Robert Salais, 2022. "The New Politics of Numbers: An Introduction," Post-Print hal-04115712, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04115712
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-78201-6_1
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04115712
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Keywords

    Democracy; Economics of convention; Foucault; Power; Quantification; sociologie; Utopia;
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