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

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Evolution of governance

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• 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