Global Indicators

The aim of the essay is to survey the main issues raised by global indicators, and to critically review the state of the art of the field’s literature. For this purpose, the chapter begins by defining global indicators and by placing their historical rise in the wider cultural context of the increasing power of quantitative knowledge over the past two centuries. This analysis will enable appreciation of the turn to indicators as an outcome and as a stage of development, and of the increasing trust in technocracy. The chapter then investigates the entities making global indicators, how these indicators are made, for what purposes, and with what effects. This examination will lead to some observations on the potential dangers posed by global indicators and to the proposal of some possible solutions.