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How to move Beyond-GDP?from Defining meta-questions on use to Working with barriers for influence
Géraldine THIRY
Tom BAULER
Université Libre de Bruxelles - BE
International knowledge brokerage workshop
October 28-29, 2013, Venice (IT)
From a contextual perspective
• Recently, much is officially said about renewing indicators of wealth: – Stiglitz, Sen, Fitoussi (2010)
– OECD (2011)
– CEC-COM (2009)
‘technically’, but also a recurrent question w/r to indicators and their role as policy-tools
• Relatively few studies, explorations, analyses which focus on the link between B-GDP indicators and…– how indicators percolate in decisional and political spheres
– how indicators are anchored in decisional processes
From a definitional perspective
• B-GDP indicators define themselves via the objective, use, meaning… that is projected or made of them, and not solely by their content: – “B-GDP are those indicators that have been proposed as
necessary and central to the measurement of societal progress, other than those – such as GDP and unemployment rate – that are already playing this role” Brainpool’s WP1-report
• Brokerage activities on B-GDP - bring B-GDP into policy - relate thus also to studying and working with issues of “use”, i.e. representations, facts, anecdotes…
Simon Kuznets’ legacy
Our double objective
• Better understand demand/non-demand and the policy debates around• empirical analyses and their interpretation
• in many policy contexts and at different levels
• with a diversity of indicators
• Co-identify and discuss the levers and barriers to the creation, institutionalisation, assessment of B-GDP– case studies with actors
– in many policy contexts and at different levels
– with a diversity of indicators
How to move Beyond-GDP?On understanding “use”
Géraldine THIRY
Université Libre de Bruxelles - BE
International knowledge brokerage workshop
October 28-29, 2013, Venice (IT)
Structure
- Context- Evolution of governance systems : why are indicators a
societal and political issue?
- Empirical exploration of the “use” of B-GDP- At the European levels: an issue of scale(s)- As perceived by Actors: an issue of confusion and of
legitimate expertise
- Framing our workshop discussions
Structure
- Context- Evolution of governance systems : why are indicators
a societal and political issue?
- Empirical exploration of the “use” of B-GDP- At the European levels: an issue of scale(s)- As perceived by Actors: an issue of confusion and of
legitimate expertise
- Framing our workshop discussions
• In the current western governance systems, indicators have become the functional and political articulations of a new mode of governmentality (Ogien 2010, Salais 2011)
• Functional : indicators are indispensable to the comparison of quantified performances
• Political : indicators are new support of a political legitimation register
9
Evolution of governance
10
• Quantifying is not only « measuring », it is first and foremost « convening » of what has to be measured
• Because Quantifying = convening + measuring,…
• Indicators are a political issue : toward a governance of expertise? – towards a redefinition of the boundaries between « scientific »
and « citizen-based », between technocratic and democratic
Evolution of governance
Structure
- Context- Evolution of governance systems : why are indicators a
societal and political issue?
- Empirical exploration of the “use” of B-GDP- At the European levels: an issue of scale(s)- As perceived by actors: an issue of confusion and of
legitimate expertise
- Framing our workshop discussions
Structure
- Context- Evolution of governance systems : why are indicators a
societal and political issue?
- Empirical exploration of the “use” of B-GDP- At the European levels: an issue of scale(s)- As perceived by Actors: an issue of confusion and of
legitimate expertise
- Framing our workshop discussions
European levels
• Overall results stress the existence of a chronological structure influenced by the emergence of a series of concepts underlying the subsequent measurement efforts…
• …accompanied by the emergence of a series of new actors…
• …expressing needs to develop new scales of measurements
European levels : concepts
Growth
Political ecologySocial
indicators
’50 ’70 ’90 2010
Conc
eptu
al C
ompl
exity
Sustainable development
WealthProsperityDegrowth
Human Development
Well BeingGreen growth
HappinessQuality of life
WelfareEnvironmental impacts
Ecological transition
Over time, increased conceptual complexity
• A complex system of actors where debate is also
revolving…
• …without citizens…
• …on how to integrate bottom-up perspectives
• overall a very imprecise demand regarding B-GDP
(including a very imprecise understanding and
knowledge of B-GDP)
European levels : actors
• Local scale initiatives are also referring to global
initiatives of indicator critique and indicator
developments – top-down percolation of conceptual necessity
• Difficult transmission of achievements of local
initiatives to national/supranational levels – imprecise bottom-up percolation of hands-on
achievements
• Compare the incomparable ?
European levels : scales
Structure
- Context- Evolution of governance systems : why are indicators a
societal and political issue?
- Empirical exploration of the “use” of B-GDP- At the European levels: an issue of scale(s)- As perceived by actors: an issue of confusion and of
legitimate expertise
- Framing our workshop discussions
Actors’ Perceptions
• Confusions and divergences operating on 2 levels: – on concepts and indicators– on societal models
Actors’ Perceptions
• Confusions and divergences operating on 2 levels: – on concepts and indicators– on societal models
• Perception: Flaws of GDP are misperceived
• Knowledge: Alternatives to GDP are relatively unknown
• Conceptual underpinning: Well-being and sustainability :
what meaning? what quantification?
Actors’ Perceptions
• Confusions and divergences operating on 2 levels: – on concepts and indicators– on societal models
• Inductive: GDP-based growth model remains dominant
• Prescriptive: Alternative models are discredited
• Ambiguous effects of the economic/environmental crises
• Doubts on the survival of the B-GDP movement
Actors’ Perceptions
• Apparent gap between discourses and practices
involves democratic risks at 2 levels:– Well-being and competitiveness
– Difficulties to give effective weight to participation
Actors’ Perceptions
• Apparent gap between discourses and practices
involves democratic risks at 2 levels:– Well-being and competitiveness
– Difficulties to give effective weight to participation
• w/r to participatory approaches, pragmatism seems to imply conservatism
Actors’ Perceptions
• Apparent gap between discourses and practices
involves democratic risks at 2 levels:– Well-being and competitiveness
– Difficulties to give effective weight to participation
• Credibility of the institution vs. intrinsic quality of
methodology
• How to combine effective (local) participation with
(global) comparability?
Structure
- Context- Evolution of governance systems : why are indicators a
societal and political issue?
- Empirical exploration of the “use” of B-GDP- At the European levels: an issue of scale(s)- As perceived by Actors: an issue of expertise vs.
legitimacy
- Framing our workshop discussions
• From the discussion of these results flows a certain
framework of thought w/r to B-GDP indicators – B-GDP indicators are multi-concept
– B-GDP indicators are multi-actor
– B-GDP indicators are multi-scale
– B-GDP indicators are multi-task
– B-GDP indicators are multi-vision
Discussion and framework