Upcoming Data (In)Justice Workshop

In today's interconnected world, data collection and global statistics are not only tools that shape decisions in politics, but they also contribute to how we perceive world – which challenges exist and which solutions are being offered. The charts representing the ‘Great Acceleration’ or the transgressing of - now already seven out of nine - ‘planetary boundaries’ (PIK, 2025), perpetuate a threatening narrative of ‘lines’ and ‘thresholds’ being transgressed.

As a result, these dystopian future trajectories make it “easier to imagine an end to the world than an end to capitalism" (Frederic Jameson). While this enables broad communication of otherwise complex scientific data, such models also overlook the full spectrum of global livelihoods and modes of living which do not transgress ecological boundaries and can therefore inspire and encourage imaginaries for alternative climate-just futures.

Among various other critique, heterodox and ecological economists have scrutinized the persistent dominance of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a global indicator of (economic) progress that reduces wellbeing to economic throughput, overlooking a range of important parameters (Sen, Fitoussi and Stiglitz 2010). Decolonial feminist activists and scholars have again drawn attention to the overlooked yet foundational significance of both, unpaid labor and subsistence for the healthy functioning of the human and non-human world (Bennholdt-Thomsen and Mies, 1997, among others).

Here the crucial role of data and our own scientific practice become apparent - while it shapes our understanding of reality it also limits our capacities to imagine a 'concrete utopia’ (Ernst Bloch 1986), a vision of ‘a good life for all’ and human flourishing within planetary boundaries.

In the workshop we aim to explore the interplay and tensions between the quantitative – qualitative, formal - informal, counted – incommensurable and not quantifiable, monetized – maintenance, productive – reproductive spheres and more.

We explore various epistemological, methodological and ethical challenges concerning the above-mentioned dimensions when conducting field work, operationalizing data, and publishing research analysis.

Date: Nov 6 and 7 2025

Location: Central European University (CEU), Quellenstraße 51, 1100 Vienna

Contact: Lilian Pungas, PungasL@ceu.edu