Abstract
Social and economic indicators measure and monitor the relative level of each country’s “progress”, be this in education, poverty, mortality, gross domestic product and so on. This essay examines indicators in the contemporary development paradigm and their use by the United Nations, World Bank, NGOs and corporations, as well as their increasing presence in global governance decision-making. Drawing upon a critical global studies perspective, I argue that indicators are producing and privileging certain kinds of knowledge over other kinds of knowledge that may not be so easily “captured” by nationally structured numerical reductionism. Reflecting on the limitations of the Human Development Index and the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, I suggest that the empirical data produced ultimately mismeasure the fullness of human experience and often undervalue non-western worldviews. I conclude by returning to the insights suggested by a global studies perspective and offer a number of recommendations for envisaging and shaping a more inclusive post-development paradigm.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Giles Gunn and Sally Merry for comments on earlier drafts, and research support from the National Science Foundation.
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©2016 by De Gruyter
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- MERCOSUR and the Brazilian Leadership Challenge in the Era of Chinese Growth: A Uruguayan Foreign Policy Perspective
- Global Power Movements, Uncertainty and Democracy in the Middle East
- Review Essay
- Frank Ninkovich: The Global Republic: America’s Inadvertent Rise to World Power / Henry Kissinger: World Order
- David Milne: Worldmaking: The Art and Science of American Diplomacy
- Documentation
- Mismeasuring Humanity: Examining Indicators Through a Critical Global Studies Perspective
- Book Reviews
- Randall L. Schweller: Maxwell’s Demon and the Golden Apple: Global Discord in the New Millennium
- Gordon Chang: Fateful Ties: A History of America’s Preoccupation with China
- Charles S. Maier: Leviathan 2.0: Inventing Modern Statehood
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- MERCOSUR and the Brazilian Leadership Challenge in the Era of Chinese Growth: A Uruguayan Foreign Policy Perspective
- Global Power Movements, Uncertainty and Democracy in the Middle East
- Review Essay
- Frank Ninkovich: The Global Republic: America’s Inadvertent Rise to World Power / Henry Kissinger: World Order
- David Milne: Worldmaking: The Art and Science of American Diplomacy
- Documentation
- Mismeasuring Humanity: Examining Indicators Through a Critical Global Studies Perspective
- Book Reviews
- Randall L. Schweller: Maxwell’s Demon and the Golden Apple: Global Discord in the New Millennium
- Gordon Chang: Fateful Ties: A History of America’s Preoccupation with China
- Charles S. Maier: Leviathan 2.0: Inventing Modern Statehood