Socio-History of Statistics on Latin America: A Review

Abstract

The major developments in the study of the history and sociology of statistics on Latin America since the late 1990s are largely unknown to European or American readers, mainly due to language barriers. Based on this observation, this article aims to provide a global view of this field of study through the presentation of two basic genres: studies devoted to the producers of numbers (with emphasis on national statistical systems) and those focusing on statistics in themselves (analysis of concepts, categories, knowledge, etc.). In both cases, special attention is paid to the differences between Latin America and the Western industrialised countries. Finally, existing research is reviewed and some issues concerning the future agenda are examined.