Jessy BaillyThe politics of public data and numbers in activism: attitudes towards public numbers by citizen debt audit groups in Belgium, France and Spain", Social Movement Studies, [online]February 2025.

Summary:

This article explores the use of public data and numbers (PDN) by activists associated with citizen audits of local debt groups in France, Spain, and Belgium as a means to critique government management of local debt and public money. First, drawing from existing research on activism, data activism and original data, we introduce a typology of how activists employ PDN to articulate political claims directed towards local powerholders, such as issuing warnings, criticizing the official interpretation of public data and challenging accounting conventions, criticizing public transparency and imputing/denouncing political responsibilities. Moreover, compared to most studies focusing on data activists or 'statactivists', our research highlights that citizen audit activists operate within a context characterized by scarcity and difficulty accessing information concerning public accounts. We particularly emphasize the constraints and challenges these activists face when using PDN to address their criticisms. Second, we seek to link these practices to attitudes towards PDN. By analysing the activities of citizens' debt audit activists, we underscore an ambiguous attitude to numbers and publicly accessible data. We illustrate that this attitude is not confined to the activists scrutinized within the article.

Link to article