Un giacobino borghese. Melchiorre Gioja e la statistica come aritmetica dell’economia politica

This essay explores Melchiorre Gioja’s contribution to the definition of the object and method of statistics in Italy during the Napoleonic age. The analysis stems from the terminological issue posed by the expression “bourgeois Jacobin” – employed in the title – which refers to Gioja's relationship with the authorities, in particular with the French authorities. His approach to statistics is then included within the general framework of the state of the art of the discipline in the period here considered, paying attention to his definition of the object of study, of the method, of the sources, in consistency with the purpose he assigned to statistical studies. The analysis allows us to highlight some critical implications and some strengths of Gioja’s approach to statistics that have on the one hand limited the impact of his thinking on the discipline and on the other hand fostered it.