Socio-political Histories of Latin American Statistics

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

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2. Introduction

   • Claudia Jorgelina Daniel, Cecilia T. Lanata-Briones, Andrés Estefane

   Pages 1-25

3. The ‘Philosophical Eye’ and the ‘Industrial Spy’: Statistical Thinking in South America After Independence

   • Marcelo Somarriva, Andrés Estefane

   Pages 27-48

4. Mapping Numbers: Statistics, Cartography, and the Making of National Space in Brazil

   • Alexandre de Paiva Rio Camargo

   Pages 49-87

5. Portraits for an Exhibition: The Making of a Statistical Culture for Public Life in Mexico During the Time of the Dirección General de Estadística, 1882–1922

   • Laura Cházaro García

   Pages 89-122

6. Ethnic Origin, Race, and Nation in the Argentine Censuses, 1869–1914

   • Hernán Otero

   Pages 123-149

7. Loose Numbers: Political Centralisation and Statistical Fragmentation in Colombia, 1886–1930

   • Victoria Estrada Orrego

   Pages 151-177

8. Socio-political History of Latin American Statistics: A Bibliographical Essay

   • Claudia Jorgelina Daniel, Cecilia T. Lanata-Briones, Andrés Estefane

   Pages 179-224

This book brings together recent research on the sociopolitical history of Latin American statistics from the nineteenth to the first half of the twentieth century. Reflecting the influence of social constructivism in the social sciences, it sheds new light on the historical emergence and development of both statistical reasoning and practices within a region traditionally seen as a passive consumer of foreign-produced theories and methods. By analysing the processes of institutionalisation of statistics in different national spaces, from Mexico to the Southern Cone, these studies show the unique ways in which Latin America adapted and used this modern tool of government and social classification to build political regimes and scientific arenas. The early enthusiasm for enumerating reality, the regular production of statistics and censuses, and the role of the region in the global transformation of this knowledge are some of the aspects reviewed to grasp the contingent dynamic of these dialogues and appropriations. Thus, Socio-political Histories of Latin American Statistics seeks to offer new insights into the divergent regional trajectories of this discipline, advancing towards an understanding of statistics and its past from a truly global perspective.

• censuses
• history of statistics
• Latin America
• population
• statistical knowledge
• statistical practices
• statistical culture
• state-building processes
• diplomacy
• nation-building
• social constructivism
• Mexico
• Southern Crone
• social categories
• quantification
• state knowledge
• bureaucracy

“This book explores a key topic: the making of statistical knowledge in Latin America and its role in state formation and nation building. It brings together excellent scholarship which illustrates the importance of statistics to the history of Latin America and the importance of Latin America to the global history of statistics.” (Paulo Drinot, University College London, UK)

“Socio-political histor(ies) of Latin American statistics: these six words synthesize the project behind this remarkable and unique work. Based on a field of research, the socio-politics of quantification, which has experienced significant development in Europe and North America, and mobilizing a network of researchers who are often young but already experienced, this book, full of finesse and subtleties, provides academic audiences around the world with an up-to-date and stimulating state of the art. The approach is historical, sociological, and political. The diversity of statistical experiences in Latin America is considered.” (Jean-Pierre Beaud, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada)

• Department of Economics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

  Cecilia T. Lanata-Briones

• Independent Researcher, Santiago, Chile

  Andrés Estefane

• Centro de Investigaciones Sociales, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina

  Claudia Jorgelina Daniel

Cecilia T. Lanata-Briones is Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics, University of Warwick, UK, and Adjunct Researcher of the Centro Interdisciplinario para el Estudio de Políticas Públicas, Argentina.

 

Andrés Estefane is an independent researcher based in Santiago, Chile; he received his Ph.D. in History from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA.

 

Claudia Jorgelina Daniel is Adjunct Researcher at CONICET based in the Centro de Investigaciones Sociales, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.