From policy goal to economic constraint. A sociohistory of the measurements and uses of the “economic growth” in the French administration (1947-1992)

Résumé 0

Economic growth is a major part of representations of the economy. This article sets out the conditions under which this increasingly important figure was naturalized in France. In so doing, it provides a key example of the role of the state in the disembedding the economy. Specificially, the activities of the French administrations where the category was defined are closely examined in this article. Historically, the construction of the figure of economic growth and of its naturalization are distinct processes. After World War II, the category of economic growth was defined to plan the economy, and since the 1960s, figures on growth have been considered what most accurately represents the state of the economy. It therefore has become an entity independent from its measurement. We argue that this transformation is a by-product of the evolution of the sociology of the civil servants who actually measure economic growth and of the struggles between different professions, each claiming to possess expertise about growth.