In today’s era of data-driven governance, numbers seem to reign supreme. From dashboards and key performance indicators to rankings and real-time analytics, metrics have become the dominant language of public policy. They are framed as rational, neutral, and objective—offering precision, accountability, and transparency. But beneath this surface lies a different story.
This article examines how the rise of metrics has created a new mode of symbolic accountability—one that enables governments and institutions to manage blame, simulate control, and depoliticize decisions. Using problematization as our lens, we explore how numbers can do more than illuminate—they can also obscure…
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