ABSTRACT
In this introduction, the authors present theoretical concepts, key questions and methodological approaches of the research project “The Measured Life”, which explores the productive and counterproductive dimensions of quantification in digitally optimising societies. Building on findings from the previous project “Aporias of Perfection in Accelerated Societies”, the authors outline dilemmas between quantitative escalation and qualitative improvement, as well as ambivalences as to how individuals respond to the increasing significance of optimisation. The digital transformation introduces new possibilities of measurement and quantification, which require further systematic investigations. Combining quantitative and qualitative/reconstructive methods, the project “The Measured Life” examines digitally quantified optimisation in three areas as investigated in the part-projects: relationships in social media, work and professional organisations, and body-optimisation (self-tracking). The book reflects this three-part structure, each of whose chapters is briefly introduced. These do not only present empirical findings but also deal (1) with the transdisciplinary concatenation of sociology, social psychology and psychoanalysis and (2) with the differentiation and integration of methodological challenges and approaches to the analysis of connections between psyche and society, work and organisation, and between self, relationships and the body.
