Data Visualization in Society

It is the first book to reflect on data visualization as a social phenomenon and on the social implications of the growth of data visualization (other books on data visualization are either dominated by a 'how-to' approach (eg Cairo's The Truthful Art) or focus on a wider range of (visual) phenomena than data visualization (eg Drucker's Graphesis or Slovic and Slovic's Numbers and Nerves). It is genuinely multidisciplinary and as such will have broad appeal. It brings together and holds in dialogue a range of perspectives (eg the critical view that data visualization does ideological work alongside the positive view that data visualization is a way of doing good, or by applying established academic perspectives (such as discourse studies) to modern phenomena (data visualization)). Today we are witnessing an increased use of data visualization in society. Across domains such as work, education and the news, various forms of graphs, charts and maps are used to explain, convince and tell stories. In an era in which more and more data are produced and circulated digitally, and digital tools make visualization production increasingly accessible, it is important to study the conditions under which such visual texts are generated, disseminated and thought to be of societal benefit. This book is a contribution to the multi-disciplined and multi-faceted conversation concerning the forms, uses and roles of data visualization in society. Do data visualizations do 'good' or 'bad'? Do they promote understanding and engagement, or do they do ideological work, privileging certain views of the world over others? The contributions in the book engage with these core questions from a range of disciplinary perspectives.