From the historian Dan Bouk, a lesson in reading between the lines of the U.
S.
In our age of constant quantification, Democracy\'s Data teaches us how to Read between the lines, and renews our perspective on the relationships between representation, identity, and governance..
And he uses a series of data points to paint bigger pictures about the systems that govern us, such as the unchecked influence of white supremacy, the place of queer people within straight systems, and the struggle of ordinary people to be seen by the state as they see themselves.
He takes us into the makeshift halls of the Census Bureau, where hundreds of civil servants labored with pencils, paper, and machines to divide and conquer the nation\'s data.
He introduces us to the individuals employed as Census takers, bringing us with Them as they go door-to-door to make a detailed yet imperfect record of their neighbors\' lives.
In Democracy\'s Data , the data historian Dan Bouk examines the crucial 1940 census, uncovering what those numbers both condense and cleverly abstract: a universe of meaning and uncertainty, of cultural negotiation and political struggle.
And behind every neat grid of numbers is a messy human story--you just have to know how to Read it.
The Census isn\'t simply data; it\'s a ritual of American democracy. Census to uncover the Stories behind the data.
From the historian Dan Bouk, a lesson in reading between the lines of the U.
S
