Those special models: A political economy of mathematical modelling

This chapter reflects on the ‘state of exception’ of mathematical models, which are to some extent shielded by their mathematical specialization from the gaze of other disciplines. It also tackles the political economy of mathematical modelling, and what role models play in the nexus between numbers and democratization. The authors mention the trade-off between quantity and quality, listing examples of modelling gone wrong, but also good practices which might be adopted to alleviate existing pathologies, keeping in mind the objective of reciprocal domestication between models and society. What is to be done? The chapter concludes with lessons from existing movements regarding responsible use of numbers, from the French statactivists to the US Algorithmic Justice League.