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- Convenor:
-
Kathryn Tomlinson
(BBC Media Action)
- Formats:
- Panels
- Location:
- Stevenson Lecture Theatre
- Start time:
- 9 June, 2012 at
Time zone: Europe/London
- Session slots:
- 2
Short Abstract:
In two linked sessions, a roundtable of anthropologists working in government will discuss how their work has influenced government policy and practice, and will run a workshop to advise on how academically trained anthropologists can work in government.
Long Abstract:
1. How anthropologists change government - roundtable
At this session a panel of anthropologists currently working in government will each speak for 5 minutes about how their work has influenced government policy and practice. They will then debate the role of anthropologists influencing government among themselves, before opening the discussion to the audience.
- The deconstruction of the widely-used local government concepts of 'community' and 'development' to better appreciate the worldviews of residents in the context of a neighbourhood renewal programme in Great Yarmouth: Robert Gregory, Great Yarmouth Borough Council
- How does anthropology influence working as an analyst in the contested world of counter terrorism?: Andrew Garner, Home Office
- Anthropological engagement with domestic drug policy and treatment of drug-misusing offenders: Sara Skodbo, Home Office
- Understanding social relations and inceptives to manage upwards - meeting commitments to gender equality within DFID: Andrew Long, DFID
2. How anthropologists work in government - workshop
A number of anthropologists currently working in government will talk briefly about particular issues that academically trained anthropologists may face when applying for or working in government (such as writing styles, short timescale research, scepticism about qualitative work). The audience will then break into smaller groups to engage with individual anthropologists about the issues raised - or their own questions about working in government.
- Communication problems between anthropological and governmental discourse and language: Margaret Bullen, University of the Basque Country, Donostia-San Sebastián
- The adaptations necessary to respond to a local government environment: Robert Gregory, Great Yarmouth Borough Council
- What are the practices of knowledge that work and don't work in shaping policy? Andrew Garner, Home Office
- The training and skills that anthropologists need to work in their own societies and governments: Sara Skodbo, Home Office
- Agency and structure: People and institutions - ensuring the client group stays represented in large scale macro contexts of intervention: Andrew Long, DFID
Accepted papers:
Session 1Robert Gregory (Great Yarmouth Borough Council)
Paper short abstract:
This paper considers the impact of anthropological perspectives of "community" to local government discourse. Situating the paper within the practical reality of life within a small borough council, the paper grapples with the global and meta-narratives of "community" and "development" within the context of government policy. The paper argues that the application of anthropology is essential both through the formulation of local government policy and in its implementation.
Paper long abstract:
Anthony Cohen suggested that "community is that entity to which one belongs, greater than kinship but more immediately that the construction we call society" (1985:15). For local government in Britain notions of community are constantly at the fore ranging from community safety programmes to community education schemes, to health and community wellbeing, and the broader definition of community development. Within each of these policy arenas emerges a notion of community constructed by the state. A notion which defines communities as bounded entities, receivers of state services, where the poor are defined as "in need" of "development". This paper explores the author's practical application of anthropological concepts into his world of work in managing a community development function for a local council. Critical to this approach has been a wider facilitation of colleagues and decision makers in the de-construction of community as a term and an alternative ontological appreciation of development practice in a British context.
Andrew Garner (FCO)
Paper short abstract:
How does anthropology influence working as an analyst in the contested world of counter terrorism? What are the practices of knowledge that work and don't work in shaping policy, and where and when does change happen? Becoming a participant in a field of policy a story of three years in counter terrorism.
Paper long abstract:
I joined the civil service five years ago and have spent over three years working as an analyst in counter-terrorism in the Home Office. I was recruited for my anthropology skills but quite how those skills were to be used was unclear. In a context of the significant and ongoing public debate and media attention given to counter terrorism policy, developing a role where 'anthropology' could inform and shape policy meant becoming skilled in different ways of presenting, summarising, creating and communicating knowledge. And answering questions that were not phrased in ways an academic may be used to and within very short timescales is an ongoing challenge. I have found myself rethinking objects (what is the thing you are considering) and products (what communicates those objects) of knowledge in new ways. With some small successes and the recognition of how many people and skills help deliver the final versions of papers that change and deliver government policy, anthropology continues to provide a critical edge for me as a civil servant.
Margaret Bullen (University of the Basque Country, Donostia-San Sebastián)
Paper short abstract:
Communication problems between anthropological and governmental discourse and language.