Author Event | danah boyd: Data Are Made, Not Found
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At Downtown Library, 343 S Fifth Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
In the United States, the census is democracy’s data. These data make politics—and politics make these data. Data Are Made, Not Found tells the story of what it took for the US Census Bureau to make its canonical data in 2020, amidst a pandemic, natural disasters, and political pressure. The making of these data is more than meets the eye. After all, what do government officials do when people refuse to participate or when workers submit fabricated data? And how does the government balance the competing goals of publishing as much data as possible without inadvertently breaching the confidentiality of the public? To complicate matters, government officials must navigate “Jenga politics” as both well-intended and malevolent actors try to achieve their goals by weakening the administrative state and putting pressure on a wobbly structure. Civil servants do their best to keep the tower from collapsing, but the precarity is real. In this talk, danah boyd will discuss what it takes to make democracy’s data—and what those who care about data and democracy should understand about the complexities of making high-stakes data.
Downtown Library: 4th Floor Program Room
Baby Playgroups
In the United States, the census is democracy’s data.