Central Banking: Technocracy or diffuse expertise?

• In Event: 3541 - The Economic Sociology of Knowledge and Expertise

Abstract

Technical knowledge is supposed to be applicable anywhere, regardless of contextual differences, local peculiarities, and the presence of unique cases. However, technical knowledge becomes effective only when it is translated and encoded into concrete practices or devices. As the use of such devices spreads, the experts grow stronger in their position to assess, evaluate, and rank the objects captured through the device at hand. The spread of technical knowledge, in turn, puts pressure on expert authority, and can force it to infuse knowledge with values, in order to regain control over its interpretation. Technical knowledge, then, loses its universality, freedom from context, and efficiency. I document this process by analyzing how public discussions of central bank policies evolved over a twenty-year period across two print-media outlets in Italy.

Author

• Simone Polillo, University of Virginia