| In spite of the great social, economic and political impact of statistics in contemporary life, statistics have been relatively neglected as objects of sociological study. This dissertation fills this void in the literature by undertaking the conceptual and empirical investigation of statistics and indicators in the public sphere. It explores statistics as collective representations narrated in the media and used and understood by the general public in particular ways. It makes visible the symbolic dimensions of statistics and the powerful social phenomena articulated around them. Given the paucity of previous research on the topic, this investigation constructed its own research objects: public numbers and fact-totems. Public numbers are statistics that acquire wide media circulation. They are a particular type of cultural artifact marked by a triple aura---they are numbers, fragments of scientific discourse, and "objective" media facts. Fact-totems are public numbers that become linked to the central identity narratives of a collectivity. They are powerful collective representations that produce statistical dramas and quasi-rituals. They have melodramatic qualities and are the site of strong emotions. Their effects ripple through societal spheres, from the economy to the polity and culture. This research provides a set of conceptual tools to analyze public numbers and fact-totems. This investigation explores the public life of statistics through a thick and detailed study of "country risk" in Argentina. This public number was an important indicator with extensive media presence in 2001 prior to the onset of the economic collapse. Using in-depth interviews, newspaper covers, headlines and leads, cartoons and archival materials, this dissertation fleshes out the conceptual apparatus by showing that country risk became a powerful collective representation that I call a fact-totem. |
