Counting Matters examines the ways in which the rise of gender equality measurement contributes to, but falls short of, effective gender equality policy implementation.
As technocrats adopt often contextless indices, questions of the theoretical and practical limitations of measurement arise, especially as they pertain to social and cultural relations.
The indicators being produced influence the allocation of resources as political decisions but are themselves part of a power regime based on the collection and analysis of data, a regime that obfuscates biases and the agendas behind the statistics.
The book’s contributors pose critical questions of the ways in which measurement culture manifests within the field of gender equality, asking how it is measured in different policy areas, how we might improve existing practices, and what is revealed through the examination and critique of the “technical turn” in policies that purport to promote gender equality.
Author Biography:
Christina Gabriel is a professor of political science at Carleton University. She has co-authored two books, Containing Diversity: Canada and the Politics of Immigration in the 21st Century, and Selling Diversity: Immigration, Multiculturalism, Employment Equity and Globalization. She has also co-edited Governing International Labour Migration: Current Issues, Challenges and Dilemmas.
L. Pauline Rankin is a professor in the School of Canadian Studies, and the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) at Carleton University. She has co-edited We Still Demand! Redefining Resistance in Sex and Gender Struggles and is co-author of Politics as If Women Mattered: A Political Analysis of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women.
Contributors: Hugh Armstrong, Pat Armstrong, Petrina Beals, Madeline Boscoe, Linda Briskin, Krystel Carrier, Jacqueline Choiniere, Stephanie E. Coen, Marion Doull, Maggie FitzGerald, Joan Grace, Nadia Ibrahim, Holly Johnson, Janet Jull, Lee Lakeman, Leah Levac, Laura Macdonald, Diana Majury, Jessica McCuaig, Marika Morris, Ann Pederson, Jennifer Petkovic, Manuela Popovici, Lorri Puil, Stephanie M. Redden, Vivien Runnels, Beverley J. Shea, Deborah Stienstra, Liam Swiss, Rebecca Tiessen, Sari Tudiver, and Vivian Welch
