Global Cultures of Enquête: Towards a Praxeology of Surveying (17th–21st Century)

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The scientific network aims to establish an interdisciplinary research agenda based on a praxeology of surveying. The collective exploration of Global Cultures of Enquête allows to combine topical research questions from the field of (historical) sociology, the history of science and statistics as well as colonial history, and wishes to bring them into conversation. Within the network, the term enquête is used as a heuristic tool that enables the observation and comparison of a range of diverse and often contrasted practices, interpretations and meanings on a global scale. Drawing on a praxeological perspective it shifts from Eurocentric visions of history, rationality and modernity to the study of the interconnections and idiosyncrasies of global as well as local cultures of enquête. Integrating sociological and historical insights and outlooks, the network wants to sharpen the perspective on contemporary struggles for the production of knowledge on the social and natural world and to open spaces for alternative genealogies in a longue durée perspective. Though the methodological approach is not geographically limited, particular attention will be given to Sub-Saharan Africa as a preferred (but not exclusive) area that allows exploration of pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial configurations.