New Paper: Democracy's Data Infrastructure

The technopolitics of the U.S. census

I have yet to properly kickstart this newsletter, but if you somehow managed to navigate your way here, I thought I’d let you know about a new paper that was released today. For the last few years, I’ve been living, breathing, and sleeping the US census. This paper, co-written with Dan Bouk, dives into the history of the census. We start with the 1920 census, where Congress abdicated its responsibility to reapportion the House of Representatives, to examines how spectacles about technology and math can obfuscate a variety of other issues at play.

With that tiny little tease, I invite you to go read “Democracy’s Data Infrastructure.” by Dan Bouk and danah boyd. Enjoy! Let me know what you think!