#11905. The Morals of Measuring: Evaluative Overflow in the Statistical Monitoring of Immigrant Integration in Germany

July 2026publication date
Proposal available till 28-05-2025
4 total number of authors per manuscript0 $

The title of the journal is available only for the authors who have already paid for
Journal’s subject area:
Sociology and Political Science;
Social Psychology;
Places in the authors’ list:
place 1place 2place 3place 4
FreeFreeFreeFree
2350 $1200 $1050 $900 $
Contract №11905.1 Contract №11905.2 Contract №11905.3 Contract №11905.4
1 place - free (for sale)
2 place - free (for sale)
3 place - free (for sale)
4 place - free (for sale)

Abstract:
This article sheds light on the interplay of classifying, comparing, measuring, and evaluating in integration monitoring: an administrative compilation of indicators that aim to assess the integration progress of persons with a migration background. The article shows that the distinct logics of classification, comparison, and operationalization inadvertently convey connotations of moral evaluation. As they feed into and pair up with general cognitive dispositions, the institutional logics of statistical departments and integration policy, a pervasive zeitgeist of rating and ranking, and a morally “thick” concept of integration, these statistical procedures “afford” value-laden and stigmatizing interpretations of migration background. The article thus adds to the literature on the construction of race and ethnicity and the new sociology of morality by bringing in insights from science and technology studies.
Keywords:
Integration; Quantification; Sociology of morality; State and society; Unintended consequences of pruposive action

Contacts :
0