Doctoral Dissertation Research: Local Histories and the Production of Centralized Knowledge

Leah Van WeyTrina Vithayathil Brown University虽然大量的社会科学研究利用人口普查数据，但对人口普查数据产生过程的实证研究仍然很少。人口普查是当代民族国家代表性做法的一部分。人口普查有助于确定民选席位的边界，也是用来分配物质利益的行政工具。人口普查数据影响着税收在各地区的分配方式，并有助于建立国家福利计划的资格标准。在过去的二十年里，包括法院、社会科学家、政府机构和部分公众在内的一系列行为者对种姓的“客观”数据提出了越来越多的要求。为了应对这些压力，印度政府于2010年决定进行种姓普查。自1931年以来，种姓数据将首次从该国的每个家庭收集。建立在使人口普查成为研究对象的学术传统的基础上，这篇论文定性地研究了在印度当代种姓计数期间，关于种姓的官方数据是如何产生的。联合PI将研究国家行为者、公民社会、私营部门和普通公众在制作社会数据方面所扮演的角色。在与参与这一全国性活动的个人、对象和机构保持协调的同时，种姓普查的实证研究植根于印度卡纳塔克邦，以了解当地历史在产生集中知识方面的作用。广泛影响该项目将与人类学家、历史学家和经济学家建立多学科合作。研究成果将在跨学科会议、研讨会和研究伙伴关系上展示，并向美国和印度的学术受众展示。该项目还将创建一套丰富的定性和档案数据，供其他社会科学家使用。最后，这篇论文的发现将为那些计划使用收集的种姓数据的人提供一个详细的经验说明，说明官方数据是如何产生的。

SES-1303274Leah Van WeyTrina VithayathilBrown UniversityWhile an enormous body of social science research utilizes census data, empirical studies of the process by which census data are produced remain rare. Population censuses are part of the representational practices of contemporary nation-states. Censuses help to determine the boundaries of elected seats and are also administrative tools used to distribute material benefits. Census data influence how taxes will be apportioned across regions and help to establish the eligibility criteria for state welfare programs. Over the last two decades, a range of actors--including courts, social scientists, government agencies, and sections of the public--have made increasing demands for "objective" data on caste. Responding to these pressures, the Government of India decided in 2010 to conduct a caste census. For the first time since 1931, caste data will be collected from every household in the country. Building upon a scholarly tradition that makes censuses an object of research, this dissertation is a qualitative study of how official data on caste are produced during this contemporary caste count in India. The co-PI will study the role that state actors, civil society, the private sector, and general public play in the making of social data. While remaining attuned to the individuals, objects, and institutions involved in this nationwide exercise, the empirical study of the caste census is grounded in the Indian State of Karnataka, in order to understand the role of local histories in producing centralized knowledge.Broader ImpactThis project will build multidisciplinary collaborations with anthropologists, historians and economists. Research findings will be presented at interdisciplinary conferences, workshops and research partnerships and to academic audiences in the US and India. The project will also create a rich set of qualitative and archival data that will be available for use by other social scientists. Finally, the findings of this dissertation will provide those who plan to use the collected caste data with a detailed empirical account of how the official data are produced.