Les ordres de la mesure des prix

Abstract

Dans l’espace social, politique et économique, rien ne semble aujourd’hui plus évident et naturel que de mesurer l’évolution de prix. Pourtant, la carrière de l’indice des prix depuis sa création n’est pas rectiligne et ne s’est pas accomplie sans heurts. Cet article se propose de suivre la carrière de cette technique de quantification dans trois configurations historiques successives marquées par l’intensité des controverses autour de l’indice des prix : ces trois périodes se caractérisent chacune par des formes différentes de « mise en ordre » de l’économie.

The Shifting Legitimacies of Price Measurements: Official Statistics and the Quantification of Pwofitasyon in the 2009 Social Struggle in Guadeloupe

“…This observation is important at a time when prices are measured through ever more complex statistical techniques. The possibilities to use quantification as an emancipatory device could be shrinking with the greater complexity of statistical tools (Jany-Catrice, 2019; Touchelay, 2014). By making such a point, and by documenting the use of numbers by trade unions, this chapter fills a gap in the literature on quantification and on "statactivism".…”

“…Such observations ask for further investigation of the links that these "statactivist" (Bruno et al, 2014) mobilizations maintain with state administrations and expertise. Historically, both unions and employers' organizations fought to impose their conceptions of quantification, and they employed quantitative skill in their struggles; yet, they were also often backed by statistical administrations (Stapleford, 2009;Touchelay, 2014;Volle, 1982). What kind of situation is reflected by the Guadeloupian case?…”

Tracking the cost of living, for whom and at what price? A political economy of price indicators in Madagascar

“…This in turn reflects both value judgments and political choices. The socio-history of the CPI shows the recurrent criticism of the omission to take into account certain expenses such as taxes, housing costs, so-called luxury expenses (including tobacco), and so on (Touchelay, 2014). Moreover, the composition of the basket is assumed to be relatively stable over time, and reference baskets are rarely updated: at the time of its revision in 1997, the INSTAT basket of goods was over 25 years old (Brilleau, 1996) and the one used in 2023 dates back from 2012.…”

O “estatativismo” como uso militante da quantificação

“…A longa polêmica sobre o índice de preços na França é outro exemplo histórico do alcance crítico das estatísticas (Desrosières, 2014;Touchelay, 2014). Historiadores mostram a trajetória dos índices alternativos de preços do início da década de 1970 até os anos 1990.…”