The Social Survey in Global Perspective, 1900-2020s

The Social Survey in Global Perspective traces the evolution of social surveys beyond celebrated metropolitan examples, exploring their worldwide impact across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Contributors examine surveys in diverse contexts-from colonial territories to grassroots women's organizations-to reveal methodological challenges and profound social influence. The collection illuminates how surveys shaped state power, social movements, and individual identity while often reproducing existing hierarchies. By exploring the double-sided legacy of social surveying-as an engine of both progressive reform and state surveillance-this book offers a critical reassessment of empirical practices that continue to determine how we understand ourselves, our societies and our world.