Chinese Statistics in Crisis

Ziel

C-STICS starts from the observation that crises provide fundamental insights into the role of statistics in general and how they function and act in and on non-democratic political regimes in particular. “Statistics in Crisis” understands statistics both as object AND subject in the historical processes being studied. At highly disruptive moments of unexpected change or heightened uncertainty, autocratic regimes rely on statistics to understand, communicate, and manage the situation. However, at times of incalculability, the production of statistics can equally reveal or provoke crises, leading to attacks and alterations of scientific theories and practices.

C-STICS breaks new ground by analysing the wealth of documentary evidence from China in an interdisciplinary project design that combines statistical analysis with humanities and social science approaches. C-STICS for the first time investigates the connection between the statistical exploration of Chinese society in the service of autocratic regimes and perceived crises. It examines the practices, epistemology, and communication of “statistics in crisis” regarding essential areas of concern to modern state and society: demography, health, economy, and climate. This will not only reveal global historical entanglements but also disconnections from international standards and communities.

C-STICS enhances our understanding of the crises resulting from the statistical needs and constraints of the different autocratic regimes throughout China’s long 20th century and provides insight into how the Chinese Communist Party “numerically” governs China today. Via an online Data Observatory C-STICS contributes substantially, and with historical depth, to an improved statistical literacy and numeracy for deciphering statistical production and communication from China. Moreover, C-STICS goes beyond the relevant but single case of China and develops an innovative theoretical framework applicable to other autocratic systems.