Numbers are everywhere. In the media, in political party platforms, at school, at the hospital, in comapnies and public services, in (almost) every science and, of course, in most courses at the École Polytechnique: quantification is omnipresent. While quantification requires technical skills (mathematical mastery, IT skills, etc.), it is not limited to these.
Numbers need to be understood not only in their technical dimension, but also in their social, political and historical dimensions. This course aims to develop a reflective approach to quantification. It can classially follow two paths: an internal path, which is part of the history of mathematics and statistics as disciplines, and an external path, which invites us to consider the production and use of figures. It is this second aspect that we wish to emphasize in this course.
The process of quantifying the economic and social world has a history that is as recent as it is sinuous: choosing to quantify is never trivial. This history is made up of methodological debates (how to quantify?) but also, and above all, political debates (why and what to quantify?), these two dimensions being intrinsically linked. Technical choices always respond to political considerations, often implicit, which need to be revealed. Quantification is never a purely technical process, and numbers are never pure reflections of reality, even if we want them to tend towards a certain objectivity.
Indicative bibliography
Belorgey, Nicolas, "Les cadres de l'expertise publique", Genèses, 2011, no 85, pp. 93-114.
Coyle, Diane, GDP: a brief but affectionate history, Princeton University Press, 2014.
Desrosières, Alain, "L'Etat, le marché et les statistiques", Courrier des statistiques, 2000.
Desrosières, Alain, La politique des grands nombres. Histoire de la raison statistique, La Découverte, 1993.
Dufour, Quentin, "L'objectivation comptable de l'économie nationale: Enquête sur la fabrique du PIB et des comptes nationaux français", Thesis, PSL, 2019.
Henneguelle, Anaïs and Arthur Jatteau, Sociologie de la quantification, La Découverte, 2021.
Jany-Catrice, Florence, L'indice des prix à la consommation, La Découverte, 2019.
Jany-Catrice, Florence, "Conflicts in the calculation and use of the price index: the case of France", Cambridge Journal of Economics, 2017, pp. 1-23.
Martin, Olivier, L'empire des chiffres. A sociology of quantification, Armand Colin, 2020.
Penissat, Étienne, " Publier des " chiffres officiels " ou les contraintes bureaucratiques et politiques qui façonnent l'expertise d'État ", Gouvernement et action publique, 2012, no. 4, p. 45-66.
Salais, Robert, Nicolas Baverez and Bénédicte Reynaud, L'invention du chômage : histoire et transformations d'une catégorie en France des années 1890 aux années 1980, PUF, 1999.
Supiot, Alain, La gouvernance par les nombres. Cours au Collège de France (2012-2014), Fayard, 2015.
Topalov, Christian, Naissance du chômeur (1880-1910), Albin Michel, 1994.
Touchelay, Béatrice, "La fabuleuse histoire de l'indice des prix de détail en France", Entreprises et histoire, 2015, no. 79, pp. 135-146.
Touchelay, Béatrice, "Un siècle d'indice des prix de détail français (1913- 2013) ou la métamorphose d'un pionnier de la politique du chiffre", Politiques et management public, 2014, Vol 31/4, p. 393-403.
Vanoli, André, Une histoire de la comptabilité nationale, La Découverte, 2002.
Volle, Michel, Le Métier de statisticien, Economica, 1980.
- Teaching coordinator: Jatteau Arthur