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Seminar

The Union of Numbers

International Statistical Harmonization and the European Communities 1950-1979

Add to calendar 2022-06-09 15:00 2022-06-09 16:30 Europe/Rome The Union of Numbers Sala del Torrino and via Zoom Via ZOOM YYYY-MM-DD
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When

09 June 2022

15:00 - 16:30 CEST

Where

Sala del Torrino and via Zoom

Via ZOOM

In this Alcide de Gasperi seminar, Guus Wieman will present findings from his dissertation that analyses the role of the developing European Communities on international statistical harmonization. Simone Paoli will discuss.

Statistical measures and numbers are not as objective and impartial as they may seem. Scholarship in recent decades has emphasized as much by analyzing statistics as ideologically laden tools for governance and limited by the tyranny of the quantifiable, among others. Despite increased social and historical scrutiny towards statistical measures and the scholars that designed them, little attention has been given to the role of international organizations in the field of statistics and 'international statistical harmonization'. The term used to delineate the process through which national and international statistical offices and experts strive to make statistical measurements comparable or compatible internationally.

Through several case studies the dissertation analyses: how and why the European Communities became engaged with international statistical harmonization, and how European policy projects and economic ideas influenced national and international statistical practices. Moreover, the thesis demonstrates how various national statistical traditions conflicted with each other and international interests, and what strategies were employed to make national statistical practices more compatible and comparable.

Discussant(s):

Simone Paoli (University of Pisa)

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