Abstract

There is an extensive literature on quantification, the systematic representation of knowledge with numbers and indicators. Among various related research questions, many scholars have focused their attention on its socio-political effects and consequences. In this work, I focus my attention on the possibility that an increasing use of numbers in the political discourse is part of a double movement. Given the political pressure made by severe global issues, and the emergence of anti-democratic groups, democratic political forces feel questioned, and consequently use numbers for their communicative efficiency, in the attempt to gain public support for their policies. However, a quantified political discourse, when implemented by a distrusted political class, can end up causing severe socio-political and socio-epistemic shortcomings, to the point that it paves the way for, instead of preventing, the emergence of populist forces, and also prevents the society from fully benefitting of the epistemic power of diversity.