Measuring and managing ‘state fragility’: the production of statistics by the World Bank, Timor-Leste and the g7+

Isabel Rocha De Siqueira

Third World Quarterly, 2014, vol. 35, issue 2, 268-283

Abstract: Indicators are currently being widely used in international policy making to substantiate analyses and justify decisions on the basis of their alleged scientific objectivity. This article analyses the role of indicators and statistics in the labelling and managing of ‘fragile states’, examining the powerful consequences of these classifications but also discussing the untraceable nature of numbers and the difficulties in attributing ownership of numerical claims and assigning responsibility for their many unforeseen impacts. Focusing on the education sector in Timor-Leste and on the World Bank’s Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (cpia) programme, the article shows how accountability and ownership are negotiated within the context of the g7+ group of self-labelled ‘fragile states’, encouraging an examination of the power relations involved.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2014.878131

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