Publishing “Official Statistics”. Bureaucratic and Political Constraints in the Construction of State Expertise: The Case of the Ministry of Labor's Statistical Publications
Penissat, Étienne
Publishing “Official Statistics”. Bureaucratic and Political Constraints in the Construction of State Expertise: The Case of the Ministry of Labor's Statistical Publications - 2012.
27
"This paper is a contribution to a sociology of state expertise. In order to analyze “official statistics,” I suggest to change the focus of analysis by exploring the ways in which they are produced and publicized rather than their uses. The paper is based on an ethnographic survey within the statistical service of the French Ministry of Labor. The survey conducted among the statisticians who draft these publications allowed us to identify three kinds of issues: the public legitimization of their profession; the bureaucratization of the writing process, which creates a tension with the “right to publish”; and the politicization of statistics, which sometimes may take place in connection with the political agenda. Conflicts which are formed around these issues encourage us not to reify the boundaries between “politics” and “administration” but rather to analyze the different logics of domination at work in these institutions."
Publishing “Official Statistics”. Bureaucratic and Political Constraints in the Construction of State Expertise: The Case of the Ministry of Labor's Statistical Publications - 2012.
27
"This paper is a contribution to a sociology of state expertise. In order to analyze “official statistics,” I suggest to change the focus of analysis by exploring the ways in which they are produced and publicized rather than their uses. The paper is based on an ethnographic survey within the statistical service of the French Ministry of Labor. The survey conducted among the statisticians who draft these publications allowed us to identify three kinds of issues: the public legitimization of their profession; the bureaucratization of the writing process, which creates a tension with the “right to publish”; and the politicization of statistics, which sometimes may take place in connection with the political agenda. Conflicts which are formed around these issues encourage us not to reify the boundaries between “politics” and “administration” but rather to analyze the different logics of domination at work in these institutions."
Réseaux sociaux