Universal concepts and national realities: the organisation of the ISI and the implementation of national income statistics in Germany

ABSTRACT Struggles over the degree of the scientific autonomy of statistics led to the demise of one of the first international scientific congresses in European history. But in the 1880s, only a decade after the collapse of that congress, the International Statistical Institute (ISI) was founded as its immediate successor to overcome the nationalist disputes that hindered the idealistic visions of a universal science breakthrough. The connection between universal scientific concepts and state reform processes is examined by the case study of the implementation of national income statistics according to internationally comparable standards in the German Reich. Thereby, the organizational history of the ISI, the role models of the participants and national realities are set in relation. The article argues that the semi-official character of international statistics implies a tension between scientific autonomy and dependence on national administrations. Equally, it offers the possibility of promoting national reform processes with reference to international integration, as the institutional responsibility for the German national income calculation in the 1930s demonstrates.