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- Convenors:
-
Tracey Chantler
(London School of Hygiene Tropical Medicine)
Gemma Aellah (BSMS)
- Chair:
-
Raymond Apthorpe
(Royal Anthropological Institute)
- Discussant:
-
Bob Simpson
(Durham University)
- Location:
- FUL-104
- Start time:
- 9 September, 2015 at
Time zone: Europe/London
- Session slots:
- 1
Short Abstract:
Stakeholder is powerful term in global health discourse. Taking a comparative, ethnographic approach, we ask what work this keyword does in which contexts, what identity statements it invokes and what claims to resources it opens up or shuts down for which people in resource-pressured settings.
Long Abstract:
'Key stakeholder involvement', 'stakeholder analysis', 'learning from stakeholders' -Travelling from domains of political and business talk, 'stakeholder' has become a ubiquitous, powerful term in global health discourse, entering into bio-ethical discussions and structuring relationships across multiple levels and in diverse settings. Borrowing from linguistic anthropology, in this panel we treat 'stakeholder' as a possible keyword of global organisational cultures - a socially prominent shorthand or gloss which is easy to use, difficult to explain and which has the power to obscure its own complexity and critique. By thorough consideration of the use of 'stakeholder' in context, across diverse settings, we hope to learn something about the underlying moral values of global health in this moment.
Taking a comparative cross-cultural ethnographic approach, we ask what work this keyword does in particular contexts, what identity statements it invokes for those involved and what claims to material resources it opens up or shuts down for which people in resource-pressured settings.
We invite papers that offer fine-grained ethnography of stakeholder relationships, engagements and practices in global health intervention and global health research across a range of contexts but with a particular focus on resource-pressurised settings.
We also warmly encourage reflexive papers by anthropologists working on the interface on the complexities of their own role as a 'stakeholder' or as a mediator of stakeholder relations and best practices.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Hung-Chieh Chang (School of Global Studies)
Paper short abstract:
This article investigates different stakeholders’ perspectives on what a ‘quality’ cord blood banks means in China. It is found that the disparities between international and national regulation has limited exporting cord blood from China to other countries.
Paper long abstract:
Hundreds of cord blood banks have been set up around the worlds. What makes a quality cord blood bank is always a key issue, not only for parents but also for physicians and patients. From collection to application, cord blood bank is the place where various stakeholders converge. It attracts international and national regulators, physicians, scientists, entrepreneurs, parents, and patients. Drawing on the fieldwork and documentary analysis from 2013 to 2015 in China, this article discusses the different aspects of the quality that are presented by different stakeholders, including physicians, parents, scientists, cord blood bankers, and international bodies such as BMDW. It highlights that the gap and difference among these parties. While the cord blood stored in China could account for 10% of the world cord blood inventory, the difference between international and national regulation has constrained the cord blood in China to be used in other countries.
Mary Nyikuri (Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology)
Paper short abstract:
Kenya is undergoing what the World Bank describes as the most ambitious decentralization process. Counties are experiencing chaos as they struggle to form structures including stakeholder forums to coordinate the health function with no or very little guidelines on how this is to be done
Paper long abstract:
One of the structures that existed before March 2013, was the District Health Stakeholder Forum (DHSF). In Malindi subcounty of Kilifi County, where observations of the devolution process are ongoing, we have observed a period of chaos as NGOs, individuals and private agencies that are health oriented, jostle, scramble and compete for stakes at the county. But what are the stakes and why is important to have a stake?
As Kenya navigates the rough and winding road of devolution the former DHSF ceased to have voice as the centre of power, coordination and planning moved from the district to the county. Previously, the members of the forum met monthly with the health managers to discuss the health priorities of the particular district. It is also at this forum that the managers share their budgetary needs for a particular period. The stakeholders then also share what the priorities of their "home" or headquarters are and priority populations and regions. Present at this forum are representatives of these stakeholder organisations and have the authority to speak and make decisions on behalf of the headquarters.
I intend to share experiences of some of the stakeholders of this evolving context of devolution in Malindi Sub County.
Tracey Chantler (London School of Hygiene Tropical Medicine)
Paper short abstract:
Governmental stakeholders argue that collaboration between health researchers and local communities must account for moral concerns, foster a sense of mutuality and result in concrete material contributions. They are more than ready to foster partnership and support health research on this basis.
Paper long abstract:
This paper relates a story of hope with material implications, which conveys aspirations about the nature of partnership and collaboration in transnational research. It focuses on interactions between the Kenyan Medical Research Institute/United States Centres for Disease Control (KEMRI/CDC) Public Health Research Collaboration in western Kenya and government officers and political leaders. I liken these stakeholders as 'gatekeepers' since they have a measure of power to grant or restrict access to particular locations. In my fieldwork these stakeholders provided a critical commentary on the complexity of applying a modern well-resourced project in an environment characterised by economic constraints. They urged KEMRI/CDC to complement their research agenda with a mandate that pays increased attention to solidarity. Particular foci of concerns were the equitable distribution of research benefits, and the widespread association of trial participation with poverty. Principally stakeholders argued that collaboration between researchers and community stakeholders must account for moral concerns, foster a sense of mutuality and result in concrete material contributions. Thus they conveyed their aspirations for a partnership that they were more than ready and willing to continue to contribute to.
Gemma Aellah (BSMS)
Paper short abstract:
How does a person come to stand for others? In a site of intense transnational medical research in rural Kenya, ‘stakeholder’ has become a new person-category, form of authority and opportunity to leverage value for residents of an otherwise subsistence farming economy.
Paper long abstract:
In a rural African field-site for numerous transnational medical research projects, certain individuals come to stand for others in negotiations between ‘the community,’ the researchers and other NGOs. However, these designated ‘stakeholders’ do not always map on to traditional forms of authority and power. Knowing how to talk to researchers and how to leverage value from these encounters has become an enviable skill in a rural subsistence economy, where medical research is the main source of money flow in the area. Based on ethnographic work over several years, this paper explores the biographies and practices of several stakeholders – or ‘people who know how to talk to people’ - who have forged careers in this new category of powerful figures. It places their case stories in the context of a wider development of a new form of labour for sale in development work – that of knowing your community