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

Abstract

In 2009, Guadeloupe experienced a historic 44 day-long strike against the high cost of living. The union-led collective (LKP) leading the strike used calculations and figures as a weapon to prove that players holding dominant market positions captured undue profits (“pwofitasyon”). Also, official price indexes were subjected to radical political criticism by the LKP actors. Yet, by using averages, these calculations could not account for the existence of individual abusive prices. The “statactivistic” momentum resulted in a shift of the legitimate price measurement methods. Calculation was, however, also the collective’s Achilles heel. LKP members’ use of numbers established only a temporary favourable balance of power in the negotiations. It was not enough for them to compete with the state’s calculative skills on an equal basis.

The Challenge of Quantification: An Interdisciplinary Reading

“…The purported objectivity of numbers (Daston 1992) can be used to deflect contestation. This may enhance knowledge and power asymmetries, as "Fighting a number with a number", as per the motto of statactivists (Bruno, Didier, and Prévieux 2014;Bruno, Didier, and Vitale 2014a, b), requires resources and infrastructures not available to the lay citizen (Mennicken and Espeland 2019;Salais 2022;Samuel 2022).…”