The shifting legitimacies of price measurements: official statistics and the quantification of Pwofitasyon in the 2009 social struggle in Guadeloupe

Boris Samuel ()
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Boris Samuel: CESSMA UMRD 245 - Centre d'études en sciences sociales sur les mondes africains, américains et asiatiques - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Inalco - Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales - UPCité - Université Paris Cité

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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.

Keywords: GUADELOUPE; FRANCE; REUNION (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Published in Mennicken, A. (ed.); Salais, R. (ed.). The new politics of numbers : utopia, evidence and democracy, Palgrave Macmillan, pp.337-377, 2021, Executive Politics and Governance, 978-3-030-78200-9. ⟨10.1007/978-3-030-78201-6_11⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03675322

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-78201-6_11

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