Numbers and Nationhood - Writing Statistics in Nineteenth-Century Italy

Numbers and nationhood explores the Italian inflection of a Europe-wide phenomenon in the nineteenth century: the rise of statistics as a mode of representation of modern society. Silvana Patriarca examines the ideologies which informed the copious statistical literature produced between the 1820s, when statistical publications began to proliferate in the Italian states, and the 1870s, when a unified Italy entered a fully positivistic era.

List of contents

1. Introduction: the history of statistics between state making and objectifications; 2. A science for 'civilized' countries: practitioners, audiences and theories of statistics, 1820s-50s; 3. Statistical description: between epistemology and politics; 4. Making public numbers: official statistics in the pre-unification monarchies; 5. Building the nation's body: 'patriotic statistics' representation of Italy; 6. The identity of the Italians, or the ambiguities of moral statistics; 7. Representing the new nation (1861-71); 8. A nation of Communes in a Europe of nationalities: the statistical Congress of Florence; Epilogue: measurable and unmeasurable things.

Summary

Numbers and Nationhood, first published in 1996, explores the role that statistics played in generating a national image of Italy in the nineteenth century. Silvana Patriarca's innovative study provides a fresh reading of Risorgimento Italy, bringing to the fore issues of science, ideology, and representation.

Product details

• Authors: Silvana Patriarca, Patriarca Silvana
• Publisher: Cambridge Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 03.10.1996
• EAN: 9780521462969
• ISBN: 978-0-521-46296-9
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 21 mm
• Weight: 610 g
• Series: Cambridge Studies in Italian H; Cambridge Studies in Italian H; Cambridge Studies in Italian History and Culture
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; Non-fiction book > Politics, society, business > Politics; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, European History, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Demography, HISTORY / Europe / Italy, Italy, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, Population & demography, Population and Demography, C 1700 To C 1800