Akin, Arkan and Elisa Banfi

Depoliticizing integration through statistical indicators
2019

The concept of integration plays an increasingly important role in Western societies, which is accompanied by a similar increase in statistical indicators designed to measure the policies that shape integration. In this paper, we critically examine one such system of measurement: the Swiss Federal Office of Statistics’ Indicators of Integration. We use an interpretative methodology to analyse the political and conceptual construction of a quantitative policy-tool. As such, we provide an innovative and theory-based approach to analysing statistical policy-tools more widely.