State Numerology: Conceptual and Ethnographic Engagements with Numbering Practices and Ontologies

Abstract

Counting practices have formed the foundations for state power for centuries: tax surveys, censuses, population registers, and personal identification numbers are just some of the ways in which states have counted and numbered people in and beyond their territories. These technologies rely on certain methods and assumptions, such as conceptualising personhood as divisible, that is, as simultaneously a discrete entity (the citizen) and as part of a larger aggregated whole (the population). Far from being universal ideas, however, counting bodies as discrete entities presupposes a notion of personhood and subjectivity that is deeply tied to particular historical and geographical contexts.
We are interested in interrogating “state numerology” by attending to issues of personhood, countability, and ontology. How are numbers used to build wholes from parts, or infer parts from wholes in diverse settings and contexts? What assumptions do governmental counting techniques rely on to identify individuals and aggregate populations? And through what conceptual vocabularies can we attend to issues of ontology and counting? The panel focuses on the production, circulation and deployment of specific numbering practices, as well as the underlying forms of personhood that makes them possible.
We welcome papers that present ethnographic engagements, theoretical contributions, as well as investigations combining a range of experimental methods. We envision a panel that addresses both historical and contemporary counting practices and technologies. We are especially interested in conceptual work on state numbers and numbering; whether by reinterpreting concepts familiar to STS or by creatively appropriating concepts from other disciplines.

Individual Presentations

• Quantifying National Populations: A Comparison of Adolphe Quetelet and Francis Galton’s Approaches to Simple Statistical Techniques - Kathryn Barber

• Counting Indigenous Population in Brazilian National Censuses: Ethnic Classification, Counting Practices and Governance Regimes - Ricardo Ventura Santos, Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz; Bruno Nogueira Guimaraes, Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz; Alessandra Traldi Simoni, Universidade Estadual de Campinas

• Statistical Reform and the Remaking of Agriculture in Turkey - Brian Silverstein, University of Arizona

• Investing in Non-Qualculability: Overseeing Quality in Dutch Healthcare Settings - Roland Bal, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Iris Wallenburg, institute for Health Policy and Management

• Partners Who Never Meet: An Ethnographic Perspective on Peers and Intermediaries in Indonesia’s P2P Economy - Sunniva Sandbukt, IT University of Copenhagen

Session Organizer

• Baki Cakici, IT University of Copenhagen