The social policy of a shortsighted state: digitalization and informality in Argentina during the pandemic

Abstract

Governments worldwide are increasingly adopting digital technologies to address social problems. This emerging ‘dataist state’ relies on administrative and statistical data grounded in law enforcement and compliance. Yet in societies characterized by high levels of informality, these conditions cannot be assumed. This article asks how the ‘dataist state’ is reconfigured when citizens and firms evade records or provide incomplete, scarce, or misrepresented information, and to what extent digitalization modifies or reproduces the limitations of weak states. We address these questions through an analysis of the Argentine government’s response during the COVID-19 crisis, focusing on two major social policies: one targeting registered firms and workers, and another aimed at households dependent on informal labor. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork conducted during and after the pandemic with public officials and policy recipients, the article examines both top-down and bottom-up dynamics. While state actors adhered to an ‘ideology of data solutionism,’ prioritizing technically feasible interventions despite limited data quality, citizens developed practices to adapt to and contest data systems – often circumventing automated decision-making. The findings show that digitalization expanded access to social assistance while simultaneously reproducing and normalizing longstanding patterns of informality and weak regulatory enforcement.