Abstract
Calculation and quantification have been critical features of modern societies, closely linked to science, markets, and administration. In the past thirty years, the pace, purpose, and scope of quantification have greatly expanded, and there has been a corresponding increase in scholarship on quantification. We offer an assessment of the widely dispersed literature on quantification across four domains where quantification and quantification scholarship have particularly flourished: administration, democratic rule, economics, and personal life. In doing so, we seek to stimulate more cross-disciplinary debate and exchange. We caution against unifying accounts of quantification and highlight the importance of tracking quantification across different sites in order to appreciate its essential ambiguity and conduct more systematic investigations of interactions between different quantification regimes.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 223-245 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Annual Review of Sociology |
| Volume | 45 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 30 2019 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Quantification
- commensuration
- economization
- politics of visibility
- quantified self
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Sociology and Political Science
Cite this
}
What's New with Numbers? Sociological Approaches to the Study of Quantification. / Mennicken, Andrea; Espeland, Wendy Nelson.
In: Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 45, 30.07.2019, p. 223-245.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - What's New with Numbers? Sociological Approaches to the Study of Quantification
AU - Mennicken, Andrea
AU - Espeland, Wendy Nelson
PY - 2019/7/30
Y1 - 2019/7/30
N2 - Calculation and quantification have been critical features of modern societies, closely linked to science, markets, and administration. In the past thirty years, the pace, purpose, and scope of quantification have greatly expanded, and there has been a corresponding increase in scholarship on quantification. We offer an assessment of the widely dispersed literature on quantification across four domains where quantification and quantification scholarship have particularly flourished: administration, democratic rule, economics, and personal life. In doing so, we seek to stimulate more cross-disciplinary debate and exchange. We caution against unifying accounts of quantification and highlight the importance of tracking quantification across different sites in order to appreciate its essential ambiguity and conduct more systematic investigations of interactions between different quantification regimes.
AB - Calculation and quantification have been critical features of modern societies, closely linked to science, markets, and administration. In the past thirty years, the pace, purpose, and scope of quantification have greatly expanded, and there has been a corresponding increase in scholarship on quantification. We offer an assessment of the widely dispersed literature on quantification across four domains where quantification and quantification scholarship have particularly flourished: administration, democratic rule, economics, and personal life. In doing so, we seek to stimulate more cross-disciplinary debate and exchange. We caution against unifying accounts of quantification and highlight the importance of tracking quantification across different sites in order to appreciate its essential ambiguity and conduct more systematic investigations of interactions between different quantification regimes.
KW - Quantification
KW - commensuration
KW - economization
KW - politics of visibility
KW - quantified self
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85069760257&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85069760257&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1146/annurev-soc-073117-041343
DO - 10.1146/annurev-soc-073117-041343
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85069760257
VL - 45
SP - 223
EP - 245
JO - Annual Review of Sociology
JF - Annual Review of Sociology
SN - 0360-0572
ER -