Download Toward an Anthropology of Public Policy

American Academy of Political and Social Science
Toward an Anthropology of Public Policy
Author(s): Janine R. Wedel, Cris Shore, Gregory Feldman, Stacy Lathrop
Source: Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 600, The Use and
Usefulness of the Social Sciences: Achievements, Disappointments, and Promise (Jul., 2005),
pp. 30-51
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As the rational choice model of "policy" proliferates in
"policy
ments,
the
studies,"
social
and
organizations,
modern
sciences,
life,
everyday
govern
a number
of
anthropologists are beginning to develop a body of work
in the anthropology of public policy that critiques the
assumptions
of
questions,
policy
to uncover
the
Toward an
Anthropology
of Public Policy
By
JANINE
as a
"policy"
things done. While
legal-rational
way
of getting
de-masking the framing of public
an
anthropological
constellations
of
attempts
approach
and
actors,
activities,
influences
that
their
decisions,
shape policy
implemen
In a
and their results.
tation,
world,
rapidly
changing
and
methods
empirical
anthropologists'
ethnographic
can show how
create new
of
categories
policies
actively
to be
also suggest
that the
governed.
They
of "state" and
frameworks
long-established
"private,"
"local" or "national"
and
"macro" and "micro,"
"global,"
and "bottom
and "centralized"
and
"top down"
up,"
not
to
current
"decentralized"
capture
only fail
dynam
ics in the world
but
obfuscate
the
actually
understanding
of many
processes.
policy
individuals
Keywords:
R. WEDEL,
anthropology of public policy; studying
through; globalization;
ethnographic
social
methods;
codes
CRIS SHORE,
GREGORY FELDMAN,
network
ethics
analysis;
and
STACYLATHROP
in
have been long engaged
research
that
deals
with
Anthropologists
implicitly
public
to
policy, for issues that pertain directly
policy lie
at the heart of
These
issues, as
anthropology.
Shore and Wright
include
(1997) observed,
institutions
and power;
and
interpretation
Janine
R. Wedel,
the
only
anthropologist
to win
the pres
tigious Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World
Order,
is an associate
professor
in the School
of
Public
Policy at George Mason University. She has testified
committees
and written
the
before
for
congressional
as The New York Times
and the Finan
major press, such
cial Times.
Inter
She is cofounderand
coconvenerofthe
est Group for
(IGAPP).
the Anthropology
of Public Policy
is a
at the Univer
Shore
of anthropology
professor
in New Zealand.
His research
interests
sity of Auckland
are in
the European
political
particularly
anthropology,
in com
and issues around
and power
Union,
governance
societies.
A former
in Action
editor of
plex
Anthropology
Cris
and The Anthropology of Europe, he also coedited, with
DOI: glO. 1177/0002716205276734
30ANNALS, AAPSS, 600, July 2005
TOWARD AN ANTHROPOLOGYOF PUBLIC POLICY
31
the politics of culture, ethnicity and
ideology, rhetoric, and discourse;
an ever-more
inter
interactions
and
between
the
identity;
global and the local. In
connected world, public policies, whether
with
busi
governments,
originating
nesses,
entities, nongovernmental
(NGOs), private
organizations
supranational
of these, are increasingly central to the organization of
actors, or some combination
society. Public policies connect disparate actors in complex power and resource
in
relations and play a pervasive,
though often indirect, role
shaping society.
the
and elites,
state,
Anthropologists
studying globalization,
politics, development,
to their research, and a
the centrality of
among other topics, are discovering
policy
some anthro
of policy is developing.
body of work in the anthropology
Although
or
sev
involved in public debates
pologists who study policy become
advocacy, and
in
eral movements
of public
activism, the anthropology
encourage
anthropology
is devoted
to research
into
issues
and
and
the
critical
processes
policy
policy
meaning;
analysis
of those
processes.2
Research on Policy Issues
Legacy of Anthropological
of American, British, and other traditions have long recognized
Anthropologists
of anthropological
the intertwining
States, for
topics with policy. In the United
Franz
Boas
debates
other
and
of
among
prominent
example, early
anthropologists
went to
the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries over evolutionary
theory
the core of public policies dealing with race and gender (Stocking 1968; Smedley
or social and
"race" and "gender" are
1993). At issue was whether
biological
are fixed or
as Louis
Some
whether
such
they
Henry
changing.
anthropologists,
in their
and Edward Tylor, assumed
studies of kinship and
Morgan
comparative
other institutions
that human cultures
with nineteenth
(often corresponding
a series of evolu
notions
Western
of
century
"biological races") developed
through
to
from
"civilization." Other scholars, such as Boas, chal
tionary stages,
"savagery"
For example, Boas s studies of immigrants, conducted
lenged these assumptions.
at the behest of the United
States Immigration Commission,
demonstrated
that
"race" is a changing, social construct and that physical differences
"races"
between
are variable and
on context.
depend
Susan
more
Wright,
recently,
Gregory
Columbia.
culture,
of
Critical
Perspectives
Anthropology
Policy:
with Dieter Hatter, Corruption:
Anthropological
Feldman
His
and
is an assistant
principal
security;
research
professor
interests
and minorities
of international
on the
focus
issues
in
Europe.
on Governance
Perspectives
and
(Pluto
Power
Press,
and,
2005).
at the
migration
of British
University
of the state; globalization,
anthropology
He
is
and coconvener
cofounder
of the
Interest Group for the Anthropology of Public Policy (IGAPP).
Stacy Lathrop received the Earl S. and Esther Johnson Prizefor her paper, "Venting in theArmy
the Salvation Army while Feeding the Elderly in the Tenderloin of
of Blood and Fire:
" Narrating
in the
The prize,
Master
the University
of Chicago's
of Arts Program
granted
by
con
in 2001, awards
the best paper
achievement
with
combining
high scholarly
cern
is the
humanistic
the
editor
She
and
for
aspirations
managing
of
practical
applications.
News.
Anthropology
San Francisco.
Social
Sciences
THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
32
was
the Atlantic, the work of British anthropologists
just as, if not more,
with policy. In The Sorcerers Apprentice: An Anthropology
of Pub
at
Lon
lic Policy (1976), Cyril Belshaw, who entered an anthropology
the
program
in the 1940s after a stint as a colonial administrator
in
don School of Economics
Across
interconnected
has always studied, albeit maybe not
reality that anthropology
Given
that
the
self-consciously,
policy.
discipline developed
alongside colonialism,
it has inmany ways studied the effects of those colonial processes on social groups
and organizations. Many British social anthropologists,
such as Edward E. Evans
Pritchard and Max Gluckman,
and those trained in this tradition, such as Raymond
Firth and Frederik Barth, have studied how social institutions and social policies
are
social actors,
function, and change and the way these influence
organized,
social boundaries,
and the construction
of social identities. Belshaw argued that
and processes,
should look at social interactions,
such
anthropologists
exchanges,
as nationalism
and development,
from the ground up, in relation to colonialism
and those in power; he suggested
that in understanding
these relationships
and
we
can
men
women
in
create
the
which
and
messy processes,
way
society.
glimpse
As he summed it up, "In an ultimate sense, society is itself
policy making" (p. xv).
Oceania,
argued
in
Given that [anthropology]
colonialism,
effects
it has
of those
groups
developed alongside
in many
colonial
ways
processes
studied
the
on social
and organizations.
Since the publication
of The Sorcerers Apprentice,
many scholars have pointed
are the result of its intimate ties to
out limitations in
limitations
that
anthropology,
new directions for the field. Postcolonialists?those
as well as
colonialism,
possible
who study the social, political, economic,
and cultural practices that have emerged
in response
to
"cri
and resistance
that anthropologists'
colonialism?suggest
are
of
cultural
influenced
practices,
tiques"
partially
by
including policy processes,
their particular social position(s)
(Marcus and Fisher 1986; Fisher 2003).
and how
Today, many anthropologists
study contemporary
global processes
entities interact with states, nations, and local groups. There
transnational
global,
are those who
and national security policies in the United States
study militarism
(Lutz 2002, 2005), Europe (Feldman 2003), Latin America (Gill 2004), and the
East (Bornstein 2001). Others study donor politics, foreign and domestic
aid (Wedel 2001 ), research funding (Brenneis 1999), and tensions between anthro
pologists and human rights lawyers and journalists (Merry 2003). These anthropol
Middle
TOWARD AN ANTHROPOLOGYOF PUBLIC POLICY
33
on a
in the field. Some thirty years ago, Nader
ogists build
longtime development
to
to
the
is, to analyze powerful
(1974,1980)
"study up"?that
discipline
appealed
an
to
societies?as
the traditional focus
antidote
institutions and elites of complex
"A reinvented anthropology," Nader
on poor, colonized, and
marginalized
peoples.
in the
institutions and bureaucratic
"should study powerful
wrote,
organizations
our
lives and
United States, for such institutions and their network systems affect
studied all
have traditionally
that anthropologists
also affect the lives of people
around the world" (1974,292-93). Wolf
(1974,261)
similarly urged anthropologists
cultural systems
out the processes of power which created the present-day
to
"spell
them." Other notable works heeding these calls include
and the linkages between
in late-twentieth-century
families
Marcus's
(1992) study of dynastic-business
in aweapons
lab
of
nuclear
America and Gusterson's
(1996,1999)
engineers
study
war. There are also those, like Marietta Baba (2000,
at
the
the
cold
end
of
oratory
institutions
must
38-39), who argue anthropologists
begin studying professional
which
educational
and
such as medical,
and organizations,
ones,
industrial,
legal,
now
are
most
condition
forces
the
human
the
shaping
powerful
"rapidly becoming
and the future."
While
the "powerful institutions" about which Nader wrote are even more so
and connected
subjects have tended
studying globalization
today, anthropologists
communities.
to focus on how
affect
local
(1996)
Appadurai's
global processes
from the angle of actors who are profoundly
important treatment of globalization
work
is a case in point. Relatively
little anthropological
affected by global processes
transna
to
networks
social
and
how
has been done
organize
organization
explore
and those who
tional players and policy processes,
global elites, decision makers,
are
Lutz's (2005)
recent
Two
Catherine
influence decisions.
however,
exceptions,
on
is
Lutz
militarism.
and Lesley Gill's (2004) research
conducting
currently
into the role of the U.S. military in the Asia-Pacific
research
region
ethnographic
linked
and resulting responses to U.S. military bases by local and transnationally
Her study includes interviews about military bases with local
social movements.
and U.S. military and diplomatic
activists, base neighbors,
Similarly,
personnel.
Gill's study of the School of Americas
(SOA) included interviews of U.S. Army offi
cers and the Latin Americanists
who trained at the school, anti-SOA activists, and
were often
who
Andean coca-growing
peasants
targeted by security forces during
the "War on Drugs."
What Public Policy Is and How Policy
Questions
Are Framed
is to examine
to
The starting point of an anthropological
public policy
approach
and framing of policy debates (see the appendix for a case study of
the assumptions
contexts and in many ways
arise out of particular
Policies
such an approach).
entire history and culture of the society that generated
the
them," as
"encapsulate
in
neutral
it.
be
clothed
While
Shore and Wright
(1997, 7) expressed
policies may
34
THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
or effective
to promote
ostensible
purpose merely
language?their
efficiency
are
In
"a
feature
of
modern
fact,
ness?they
fundamentally
political.
key
power,"
is the
Shore and Wright
contended,
"masking of the political under the cloak of
neutrality"
(pp. 8-9).
The anthropology
of policy takes public policy itself as an object of analysis,
as
a research
is
rather than
the unquestioned
premise of
agenda. Anthropology
well suited to explore the cultural and philosophical
of
underpinnings
policy?its
uses.
and underlying
enabling discourses, mobilizing
metaphors,
ideologies and
can
how
channel
assumptions
Anthropologists
explain
taken-for-granted
policy
debates in certain directions,
inform the dominant ways policy problems are iden
certain
classifications
of target groups, and legitimize
tified, enable particular
solutions
while
others.
policy
marginalizing
Key questions for an anthropology of policy
of policy is not simply concerned with representing
local,
anthropology
or
or
"cultures" to policy makers, government
indigenous,
agencies,
marginalized
Its focus instead is simultaneously
concerned NGOs.
wider and narrower: wider
insofar as its aim is to explore how the state (or to be more exact, those policy mak
ers and
are authorized
to act in the state's name) relates to local
professionals who
narrower to the extent that its
and
focus tends to privi
populations;
ethnographic
are
state
the
of
how
and
processes
government
lege
goal
understanding
policies
at the local level,
in mind that
and
experienced
interpreted by people
keeping
are
or the
to capture
recasting the "local"
anthropologists
"community"3
changing
"
realities. Comaroff
and Comaroff
for
stressed
that
'Local
(1999, 294),
example,
nor for every purpose, the same
a fam
not
is
sometimes
it
is
ity'
everywhere,
thing;
sometimes a town, a nation, sometimes a flow or a field, sometimes a continent
ily,
or even the world; often it lies at the
or more of
point of articulation among two
An
these things."
in
An
is
of policy, however,
the
equally interested
anthropology
understanding
cultures and worldviews
of those policy professionals
and decision makers who
seek to implement and maintain
their particular vision of the world through their
an
From
and
decisions.
what happens in the
perspective,
policies
anthropological
or the shareholders'
executive boardroom,
the cabinet meeting,
annual general
no less
occurs at the level of the
is
which
than
that
meeting
important
factory floor
or
an
to the
of
Thus,
locality.
anthropological
approach
study
policy incorporates
the full realm of processes
and relations involved in the production
of policy: from
the policy makers and their strategic initiatives to the locals who invariably shape
it into action. In this vein,
and mediate policy while translating and implementing
an
asks
the
of
anthropology
policy
following:
What exactly is "policy?"
How
should
munities,"
policy?
we
that
conceptualize
is, specific
that tend to create
particular
policy processes
constellations
of actors,
and influences
activities,
"policy
that
com
shape
TOWARDAN ANTHROPOLOGYOF PUBLIC POLICY
35
What role do policies play in the fashioning of modern subjects and subjectivities? In other
words, how do policies shape a community s ideas about human beings and being human?
as a
or
a state s
viewing
policy
"political
technology,"
through
policy
as a
to view
Is it useful
of
laws, and judicial
rulings?
policy
"technique
s
the self or a
of a
and
of itself, others,
projection
community
meaningful
understanding
are the limits to awareness
constraints
the world?
And what
the
given
particular
imposed
How
useful
is it to view
administrative
rules,
by governing bodies? (Foucault 1977; Rabinow 1984; Rose 1990,1999).
Finally,
how
can we
study policy
processes
anthropologically,
and what
is distinctive
about
an anthropologically informed set of perspectives?
What
is
"policy"?
an
its frequency
of use,
interesting word. Despite
Policy is
anthropologically
on an authoritative definition of
an
there is still little agreement
However,
policy.
is less concerned with assigning abstract and immutable
of
anthropology
policy
in
definitions
of the term "policy" than with understanding
how policy functions
is not "What is
the shaping of society. In other words, the key question
but
policy?"
rather, "What do people do in the name of policy?" An etymology of the term "pol
some of its social functions. The word is
icy" itself helps to expose
commonly used
as a shorthand for a field of
or
"economic
activity (for example,
policy"
"foreign pol
a
atWork
for
EU's
the
Health
and
(for example,
icy"),
specific proposal
Safety
a
or
a
it
to
is
of
used
describe
directive),
government
piece
legislation. Elsewhere,
or
as
a
state
to
desired
of
affairs
label
describe
or,
general program
alternatively,
or what governments
uses are consistent with
outcomes
actually achieve. These
sense of the term understood
as a "course of
what has become the standard modern
or any
action adopted and pursued by a government,
party, ruler, statesmen etc,"
course of action
as
an
From
adopted
expedient.4
anthropological
reading, this defi
sense of a
to that of
nition has notable similarities
in the Malinowskian
"myth"
or
a
"charter for action" (Malinowski 1926)
charter conveying assumptions,
values,
and meanings
about how to live.
the historical semantics of the term "policy" also reveal other, equally
However,
of meaning
clusters
that shed light on other aspects of the concept. What
important
is
about
the medieval French origins of the word "policy" in
interesting
particularly
are its close semantic associations with
the sense of governing and management
now obsolete,
and
the sixteenth-century
"policing" (policie)
"polishing." Although
use of
as a verb
more
to
"to
or,
meaning
organize and regu
policy
police
precisely,
late the internal order of," is suggestive of what are, perhaps, some of the less con
no less
functions. This centuries-old
definition bears an
spicuous but
unimportant
now favor in
to
resemblance
the
critical
that
uncanny
many anthropologists
angle
state. A
to
out how
is
their studies of the modern
of
this
research
draw
key part
pol
state
in
aids
the
and
icy
shaping, controlling,
regulating heterogeneous
populations
that homogenize
render the subject
schemes
diversity,
through classificatory
to
the
and
and
boundaries
between dif
state,
transparent
implement
legal
spatial
ferent categories of subjects (cf. Trouillot 2001). Similarly, when used as an adjec
tive
to describe
"elegancy,"
cisely, the "polishing
or
"refinement,"
refining
"culture,"
of manners,"
and
the older
"civilization"
or, more
pre
sense of the term
"policy"
THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
36
as a verbal
as
in the idea of
itsmodern counterpart
"spin" and
policy
might also find
as a
to strike the
note among electors. The sense of
sound bite designed
right
policy
"contract of insurance" or "daily lottery," stemming from the Greek "demonstrate"
also resonate with
and "proof
ideas about
(apodeixis), might
(apodeiknynai)
or that
are accountable
to
and
bodies
governing
"transparency"
"accountability"
or investors and
to communicate
activities
their citizens, members,
their
obligated
to them.
and decisions
[T]he word "policy9 is a concept laden with
it is a word
often quite contradictory
meanings;
to convey very
that can he coded and decoded
ambiguous
messages.
But even more
are the associations of the term
two rival
"policy" with
significant
In fifteenth- and
and the way these have shifted over the centuries.
was
used as a noun for political
sixteenth-century
English,
commonly
"policy"
or skill in the execution of statecraft. However,
same
sagacity, prudence,
during the
were both
itwas also used as an adjective to describe
of
conduct
that
types
period,
one hand,
good and bad. On
policy evoked the idea of "diplomacy," "prudence,"
but in its bad sense, it also meant
and "expediency,"
"shrewdness,"
"cunning,"
two
and
these
alternative
"dissimulation."
"craftiness,"
Again,
readings would also
uses and
seem to be salient for
of the word
contemporary
meanings
understanding
are
two meanings
these
show
how
When
statecraft,
put together, they
"policy."
which is invariably concerned with consolidating
social order, inherently privileges
an order of
some
over others without
it is
revealing the fact that
producing
people
a stable state. The
must be "bad" to achieve the
of
impor
"good"
inequality; policy
tant point to deduce from this brief exercise in historical semantics is that the word
it is aword that
is a concept laden with often quite contradictory meanings;
"policy"
can be coded and decoded
to convey very
ambiguous messages.
sets of meaning
The proliferation
of "policy"
in
everyday
discourse
now
in
in the
language of elites and
frequently appears both
"policy"
seems
in
to have become ubiquitous
the discourse of gov
everyday life. The word
in the way these bodies represent them
ernments and organizations,
particularly
selves, define their goals, or justify their raison d'?tre. "Policy" has become the leit
As Shore and Wright
motif of modern
(1997) argued, policy has
organizations.
The
term
TOWARD AN ANTHROPOLOGYOF PUBLIC POLICY
37
in contemporary
become an increasingly central organizing principle
societies, on
a par with other
as
such
concepts
"community,"
"society," and
key mobilizing
"nation." However, whereas
the latter are usually recognized as contested
ideologi
cal terms that are seldom innocent or politically disinterested,
there seems to be no
such critical sensibility or public skepticism toward the idea of "policy." Typically,
as
is represented
that is both neutral and rational: a mere tool
"policy"
something
that serves to unite means
and ends or bridge the gap between
goals and their
execution?in
short, a legal-rational way of getting things done.
Our argument is that these assumptions
(even the claim to "rationality") need to
be questioned
rather than taken at face value, and whatever
else itmight be, policy
as a
as
as
must also be understood
the
embodiment
of a certain
of
well
power
type
reason. Indeed, the field of
kind of instrumental
studies
has
often
evaded
policy
serious critique because it has not
narratives mobi
how
adequately explored
policy
lize the language of science, reason, and "common sense." Policy can be presented
as
or incon
to
it
apolitical because
seemingly neutral scientific reasoning
appeals
testable assertions about human nature. In this way, policy makers can mute oppo
maneuvers
sition not through crafty Machiavellian
but by simply casting counter
as
or
a
"irrational"
of
arguments
"impractical." Thus,
key task for the anthropology
statements
is to expose the
about reality.
policy
political effects of allegedly neutral
a
From an
perspective,
society is
anthropological
striking aspect of modern-day
in the
the extraordinary extent to which the idea of policy has become
implicated
or
now
of human affairs. Indeed, policies of one kind
another
organization
shape
and regulate the conditions of our entire existence. From the cradle to the grave,
norms and dictates
modern human subjects are governed by?and
through?the
of particular policies, whether
these be concerned with public health, employment
or
national
education,
practices,
security, taxation regimes, "good governance,"
race relations
and
almost
Indeed,
every aspect of
equal opportunities
legislation.
now
or
is
to
of
life
the
has been ren
contemporary
subject
implementation
policy
dered an object or "target" of policy makers: from the age one can vote, drive a car,
retire, or have legal sex, to the care and schooling of children, the conduct of par
ents and
and the design of homes. Even the concepts of individual
professionals,
citizen"
and
the
are, in effect, artifacts of policy. In this sense, it is
"private
rights
of policy but also of how it
useful to think not only of the constraining
dimension
fashions modern
identities and ideas about what itmeans to be human.
By classifying
problems),
and
policies
"ratepayers,"
and problems
(and particular people as particular policy
create new categories of individuals, such as "citizens"
actively
people
"asylum
seekers"
and
"economic
migrants,"
"geriatric
mothers,"
"the long-term unemployed,"
consultants,"
"adjunct professors,"
"self-employed
and the "working poor." The latter is a category that was itself recently invented by
the British government
initiative, itmight
through itsWorking Poor Initiative?an
to
address the poverty trap that it had
be added, that the government
implemented
to
its
and labor
earlier policies of deregulation
bring about by
previously helped
market flexibility. The point here is not that policy dictates the behavior of its target
but rather that it imposes an ideal type of what a "normal" citizen
population
should be. Individuals of a population must contend with, measure up to, subvert,
38
THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
or
as
part of their own identity. In
manipulate,
simply internalize these ideal types
a state's
not
modern
functions
brute
short,
power largely
by
imposition of
agenda
but by using policy to limit the range of reasonable choices that one can make and
to "normalize"
or behavior.
particular kinds of action
For instance, Les
Many anthropologists
study these processes ethnographically
Field
that the policies developed
U.S. Bureau of
the
(1999) demonstrated
by
Indian Affairs, and those who work for its Branch of
Research,
Acknowledgement
can be
as an "Indian,"
who
stamp
bureaucratically
federally recognized
thereby
the fate of many unrecognized
tribes, their lands, and their ability to
determining
in lucrative
participate
gambling ventures, not to mention deciding which kinds of
are relevant and which are not.
are
tribal knowledge
Similarly, anthropologists
in
1993
the
of
Native
Act
act
effects
the
is
Title
Australia.
This
studying
predicated
on the notion that common
law can recognize
the "rights and interests" held
by
can show
in lands
Australian
inhab
aboriginals only
they
they have continuously
as
ited through history and on which they have
practiced traditional customs, such
a notion, argue some
Yet
and
other
such
practices.
hunting
ignores
anthropologists,
the forcible removal and relocation of these groups, meaning
they often cannot
prove to a court's satisfaction traditional continuity with their lands and practices
(Glaskin2000; Povinelli 2002).
"Policy"
as the
object
of analysis
The model of policy making in the rationality project is a production model, where policy
in a
as if on an
of stages, almost
line.
sequence
fairly ordered
Many
assembly
in fact,
of
An issue is
the elements"
of
scientists,
speak
policy.
"assembling
"placed
it moves
the
and executive
of
branches
gets defined;
agenda,"
through
legislative
are
where
alternative
solutions
and
elected,
government
proposed,
analyzed,
legitimized,
a solution
is
the executive
and
refined;
implemented
by
agencies
constantly
challenged
is created
political
on the
and revised by interested actors, perhaps using the judicial branch; and finally, if the pol
icy-making
process
is
managerially
sophisticated,
revising implemented solutions. (Stone 1988, 8)
it
provides
a means
of
evaluating
and
The anthropology
to the influential
of policy brings much-needed
perspectives
field of public policy and the growing area of enquiry that falls under the broad
heading of "policy studies." The problem with much of the latter is that it continues
to operate within a
as a reified
an
positivistic paradigm that treats policy
entity and
or
own
seldom
its
the
cultural
bases
of
given,
questioning
unanalyzed
conceptual
analytical assumptions. As the above quote by Stone (1988) indicates, there is also a
to view
not as a linear process, then as a neat,
tendency
policy, if
logical, orderly, and
rational set of flows and procedures
that move rationally and systematically
from
formulation
and design to execution and evaluation.
as an
In other words,
or "con
is often
public policy
thought of
"assembly line"
a
But
belt."
and
follow
linear
veyor
process
policy making
implementation
hardly
outcome. On the contrary,
with a predetermined
policy processes often encounter
in unforeseen ways and with
unforeseen
variables, which are frequently combined
as
For
unforeseen
Wedel
found in her study of
(2001,8-9)
consequences.
example,
TOWARD AN ANTHROPOLOGYOF PUBLIC POLICY
39
aid policies may appear more like a series of
the donor's policies but are transformed by
the agendas, interests, and interactions of the donor and recipient representatives
recent
at each stage of
illus
and interface. Despite
ethnographies
implementation
in
the
of
the
rational
choice
model
limitations
trating
"policy studies," anthropolo
a
coherent critique ofthat model.
gists have yet to put forth
compelling,
Western
"chemical
assistance
reactions"
to eastern
Europe,
that begin with
Analyzing Policy Processes and Addressing
Theoretical and Methodological Challenges
The anthropology
of public policy is at the core of theoretical and methodologi
its potential
cal challenges
contributions.
currently
facing anthropology?and
an
of
While
the
anthropological
framing
public policy questions,
de-masking
constructs an understanding
of policy processes
focused on how actors
approach
Shore and Wright
those processes.
mediate
(1997, 13) sug
"Anthropologists,"
are
"to
intersect
the workings of multiple,
understand
gested,
uniquely positioned
are
structures
to
that
local
but
tied
non-local
and
systems."
ing
conflicting power
to uncover
An
of actors,
the constellations
anthropological
approach attempts
that shape policy decisions
and their implementation,
activities, and influences
out.
therefore
and
how
effects,
gives particular emphasis to
they play
Anthropology
must be situ
the idea that the study of policy decisions and their implementation
context: They cannot be
ated in an empirical or ethnographic
adequately mapped
are
an abstract
values and correlations
using variables whose
by
prespecified
model.
Rethinking the "field"
an
pillar?the
discipline's
Studying policy requires rethinking
anthropological
a
of
"the
traditional
field"?as
concept
single and (relatively) geographically
bounded place (Gupta and Ferguson
1997,37). Today, "the field" often consists of
in
actors with varying
leverage located
loosely connected
degrees of institutional
are
even
not always
"sites" that
fixed.5 With the post-cold
geographically
multiple
war world s increased
states and international organiza
of
authority by
delegation
tions to private organizations,
and actors, the architects and agents of a
companies,
are no
longer formulated pri
policy may be elusive, varied, and diffused. Policies
a
of
but
entities,
additionally by
supranational
plethora
marily by governments,
of these.
NGOs, private actors, or some combination
businesses,
struc
offers a social organizational
approach that illuminates the
Anthropology
tures and processes
that ground, order, and give direction to policies. An ethnogra
and institutions are interconnected
pher explores how individuals, organizations,
even if the actors
and asks how policy discourses help to sustain those connections
even
contact.
involved are never in face-to-face
direct)
(or
"Studying through"
the
1994, 477-79; Shore and Wright
1997), the process of following
(Reinhold
THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
40
source of a
to those
and programs?through
discourses,
prescriptions,
policy?its
affected by the policies does just that. For example, Shore andWright
(1999,2000)
have used this approach to examine the cultural consequences
and implications of
since the 1980s. Similarly, Wedel
British government
reforms of higher education
(2001) has studied "through" the interactions of donors and recipients to explore
arenas of
the social organization
activity navigated by
linking the overlapping
actors. By
actors
connections
who
may not know each other but
among
charting
are situated among these arenas,
can illuminate how different
"studying through"
are intertwined?and
their relationships
of
and
worlds
everyday
organizational
arenas
are
resources?across
in
not
time
Interactions
and
and
these
power
space.
actors on the
only between
ground (for example, donor and recipient representa
tives and other parties to an aid
the larger systems they
process) but also between
in
nations
Wedels
(for example,
represent
study).
The value
of social
network
analysis
can
Social network analysis, which unites both theory and method,
help illumi
nate sites of articulation
and interaction and thereby provide a snapshot of the
Network
focuses on
of transnational policy processes.
analysis, which
workings
as a
not
is
social relations rather than the characteristics
of actors,6
powerful
only
as
as
"an orienting
Scott (1991, 37) proposed.
but also
method
idea,"
By linking
actors, network analysis can show how the local or regional level is connected with
the national level or the local, regional, or national level with the international.
can examine
an
network
ethnographer
relationships
analysis,
Employing
and
and the changing, overlapping,
between
individuals, groups, and organizations
actors within them may
have
roles
that
linked
network
Social
play.
analysts
multiple
structures
to collective
and Garth
(2002, 10), for example,
processes.7 Dezalay
... that
showed that "tracing the careers of particular individuals makes it obvious
and that of human rights NGOs have always been very
the world of foundations
careers theWorld Bank inter
how
related;
through concrete networks and
closely
acts with local situations; and how corporate
law firms or advocacy organizations
on those in the United States are
to new terrains."
modeled
brought
basis for explaining policy decisions.
Such analysis can serve as a persuasive
first
Wedels
(2004) social network study of a core group of "neoconservatives,"
or
so
a
in The
dozen
Post, highlighted
long-connected
play
Washington
published
between
and private
skill at maneuvering
ers, a "flex group," whose
government
and businesses'
rules of accountability
roles, at relaxing both the government's
and at conflating state and private interests, proved essential
codes of competition,
to the group's influence on American public policy. The group's "flex organizing"
enabled it to play a pivotal role in shaping U.S. policy toward the Middle East and
to war in Iraq.
taking the United States
a
framework that it implies?is
the social organizational
Network analysis?and
"macro"
to
mixes
"state"
and
of
and "private," of
the
useful way
conceptualize
"micro," of "local" or "national" and "global," of "top down" versus "bottom up,"
that today configure many transna
and of "centralized" versus "decentralized"
TOWARD AN ANTHROPOLOGYOF PUBLIC POLICY
41
are thus well
to track the inter
tional policy processes. Anthropologists
positioned
actions between
interests
of state,
and
and
the
mixing
private
public policy
is
and
business
networks
that
becoming
increasingly prevalent
nongovernmental,
around the globe.
framework that can both dissect
The value of a theoretical and methodological
as
connect
and
levels (such
local and global) and spheres (such as state and private)
is difficult to overstate in a
and rapidly changing world. Today, many
multilayered
are
in the world, most
in
obviously players
policy processes,
perplexed when asked
is
like
work
"Who
"Who owns the
"Whom
do
for?"
you
questions
responsible?"
or "Whom does he
of
between
company?"
represent?" Analysis
relationships
actors, both individual and collective
(such as network analysis reveals), enables an
to see different levels and arenas of activity in one frame of
study and
ethnographer
to observe how they are interwoven.
Methods for an anthropology of public policy
takes as a given that much of itsmost useful information can only
Anthropology
case method"
be obtained
(Van
through trusted "informants." The "extended
in
actors
Velsen
which
the
follows
interconnected
1967, 145),
ethnographer
around a particular series of events, lends itself to the study of ongoing policy pro
cesses. The actors' responses to the same
questions
(regarding, for example, their
own and others' activities,
are then
and
and
networks)
perspectives,
compared
are
actors involved in a
"case"
sometimes
assessed over time. Although
particular
located in different sites, they always are connected by the policy process and/or by
actual social networks.
in as many sites as
strive to conduct partici
However,
possible, anthropologists
or
some
at
association
least
with actors in their own ter
pant observation
long-term
or
is
ritories
this
they
(Agar 1996, 58). When
impossible
impractical, however,
interviews is often the
In
alternative
methods.
up,"
employ
"studying
conducting
means of
to difficult-to
only
gathering firsthand information and gaining entr?e
access "fields," such as individuals in
itwas
institutions. For
only
powerful
example,
of public vul
because the U.S. Army's School of Americas
suffered from amoment
was
nerability after pressures from human rights groups that Gill (2004)
provided
an
are the
to
interviews
interview
the
school.
When
of
pri
opportunity
graduates
critical informa
mary source of information from a particular site, cross-checking
sources is crucial (Wedel 2003).
tion and
key points with multiple
corroborating
as well.
to and
additional
methods
"Talking
living with
Anthropologists
employ
"are
of a community," Gupta and Ferguson
the members
(1997, 37) reported,
their
reading newspapers,
analyzing govern
taking
increasingly
place alongside
ment documents,
the activities of governing
elites, and tracking the
observing
internal logic of transnational
(In the
agencies and corporations."
development
we offer a brief illustration of this argument
2001
the
USA
using
appendix,
PATRIOT Act as a case study. Wedel
added
that
she
consulted
)
(2001,222-24)
pro
obtained under laws such as
(such as materials
ject reports, internal memoranda
of Information Act), and independent
the Freedom
She also estab
organizations.
THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
42
lished mutually
beneficial
collaborations
with congressional
and parliamentary
officials
with
and
staff,
reporters. Consulting
monitoring,
investigative
charged
such sources,
she found, served to corroborate,
and lend enhanced
broaden,
to her work.
credence
Rethinking professional ethical codes
the ethical codes
"up" and "through" also necessitates
Studying
rethinking
inmind. Several
with
"down"
designed
studying
anthropologists
(including Wedel
have called for a reexamination
2001, 223; Konrad 2002, 227; and Shore 2002,11)
is to
of the traditional ethic ordaining that an anthropologist's
"first responsibility
those whose lives and cultures we study."When
the people being studied are more
in the American
than the studiers, this precept
Associa
powerful
Anthropological
in that of other social science
tion's (AAA's) Code of Ethics
(1998),8 and echoed
is
(2001, 223), for instance, asked, "Does an
organizations,
problematic. Wedel
same
a
to an agency that
have
the
anthropologist
responsibility
employs
public
relations staff as it does to a tribe facing extinction?" She reported that "anthropol
on sensitive issues may find it
in research in government
ogists engaged
agencies
itwill be
difficult to proceed without
ethics
from
employing
journalism because
as
of
them
such
their
federal
sources,"
administrators,
expected
by
congressional
individuals
aids, and other powerful
typically interviewed by journalists but not
institutions
She concluded
that studying powerful
and actors
anthropologists.
to the ethical code and practices of
should thus bind anthropologists
journalism
with regard to treatment of "sources."
[The AAAs] code makes it clear that
anthropologists primary ethical obligation is to
the people they study and that anthropologists
are cautioned
to do no harm
whom
to the
people
work.
they
with
in medical
and legal contexts must
working
Similarly, those anthropologists
in these settings, as well as what ethical
inform themselves of the risks of working
of an anthro
their informants have. For example, the confidentiality
expectations
notes became
attention when anthropologist
Sheldon
the
focus
of
field
pologists'
in a legal
Zink's field notes of the AbioCor
artificial heart trial were subpoenaed
TOWARD AN ANTHROPOLOGYOF PUBLIC POLICY
43
case on whether
the hospital had failed to inform the patient, who died, and his
2003). Zinks case was con
family about the dangers of the trial (Free Sheldon.org
founded since her research, which was not federally funded or based at a univer
sity, had not been subjected to institutional review board oversight; further compli
one of researcher
to patient advocate
cating things, she changed her role from
at
to
time
In
her
the
Zink's
ethical
the AAA
dilemma,
response
during
hospital.
of Field Notes, reiterating that
(2003) adopted a Statement on the Confidentiality
its code makes it clear that
primary ethical obligation is to the peo
anthropologists'
are cautioned
to do no harm to the
and
that
ple they study
anthropologists
people
with whom they work. At the same time, it acknowledged
that the code states that
"the degree and breadth of informed consent" is situational to the context inwhich
a
of other "codes, laws, and ethics of the
study takes place and the requirements
or
in
is
It is at the end of the
which
the
research
country
community
pursued."
statement that the AAA noted the
nature of
fieldwork:
changing
anthropological
"We believe that an environment
of distrust results if field notes are not protected
or other persons
or
use
against the
by public officials
having physical
political
use
or
to
notes
to
who
wish
the
research
sub
power
prosecute
investigate
might
or
we
whom
work."
with
jects
people
Critiquing Conventional Wisdom through
Anthropological Analyses
can
to
counteract
three
Bringing
analysis
anthropological
public policy
help
as an
to treat
related and dominant
trends. The first is the tendency
"policy"
to the sociocultural
contexts inwhich it is
reference
given, without
unproblematic
to dominate
continues
of positivism
paradigm
a nec
much of the "policy studies" literature and approach. Anthropology
provides
a
more
to
both of these shortcomings
and introduces
reflexive
essary corrective
on
as an idea as well as a set of processes.
perspective
policy
The second of these is the domination
of public policy and debate, and even
as those of
such
democratiza
discourses,
scholarship, by ideologized
globalization,
tion, and privatization. Kalb et al. (2000, 8) observed that the very "neglect, denial,
or even conscious
con
social relationships,
repression, of institutional complexity,
into
turned
and
the
of
contradictions"
the
concept
tingency,
globalization
possible
it
interactions
became.
and
interfaces
among
By highlighting
"ideological magnet"
can
a
to these
parties to the policy process, anthropology
provide
counterweight
embedded
and understood.
The
discourses.
The
flawed
"micro,"
can
counteract
is the use of
third trend that anthropological
analysis
help
versus
as
versus
"state"
"macro"
frameworks
(such
"private,"
dichotomous
"top
down"
versus
"bottom
up,"
"local"
versus
"global,"
"centralized"
ver
sus "decentralized")
so
to obfus
in
prevalent
public policy. These frameworks tend
of
than
the
rather
shed
cate,
By analyzing the
light on,
workings
policy processes.
construction
their activi
and building blocks of policy?actors
and organizations,
THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
44
can take on the
ties and points of
articulation?anthropology
complexity, ambigu
a
messiness
In
and
of
ity,
policy processes.
rapidly changing world, anthropology's
to
construct the variables
reliance on ethnography
help
being studied and its focus
on the interactions
in which parties to the
policy process engage
(regardless of
so
or
or even see themselves as
ever
whether
do
they
willingly
wittingly,
"parties") is
more crucial.
can
are pro
outcomes
the
that
analysis
Anthropological
disentangle
duced and help explain how and why they often contradict the stated intentions of
policy makers.
An
of public policy should not only add to the body of substantive
anthropology
about
the
way the world is changing, but it should provide a critical cor
knowledge
rective to the
that work well in journals and textbooks yet often
simplified models
on the
fail to produce desired outcomes
ground. It should spur theoretical and
that
and the interdis
methodological
development
strengthens both anthropology
ciplinary
study of policy.
Appendix
Case Study: The USA "PATRIOTAct"
In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks on theWorld Trade Center and
the Pentagon in September 2001, a hastily drafted antiterrorism bill was presented to
Congress that, according to both supporters and critics of the legislation, has laid the
foundations for a domestic intelligence-gathering
scale and
system of unprecedented
as
Known
PATRIOT
Act
the
full
title
the
(its
technological prowess.
Uniting and
being
to
America
Tools
Protecting
by Providing Appropriate
Required
Intercept and
Obstruct Terrorism Act), the new bill rapidly passed into law on October 26,2001. The
new law was ratified reflected the climate of wartime
speed in which the
politics
terrorist attacks and "weapons of mass destruction") and the
fear
of
further
(fuelled by
desire of the Bush administration to capitalize quickly on the bipartisan mood in Con
gress. Among its provisions, the PATRIOT Act empowers the government to shift the
primary mission of the FBI from solving crimes to gathering domestic
intelligence;
a financial
sys
charges the Treasury Department with building
intelligence-gathering
tem whose data can be accessed
by the CIA; and, for the first time ever, gives the CIA
to influence FBI operations inside the United States and obtain evidence
authority
as McGee
(2001)
gathered by wiretaps and federal grand juries. More specifically,
observed, the bill "effectively tears down the legal fire walls erected 25 years ago during
the Watergate
era, when the nation was stunned by disclosures about presidential
abuses of domestic intelligence-gathering
against political activists."
At its signing, President Bush described the bill as "an essential step in defeating ter
rorism, while protecting the constitutional rights of all Americans," which would "give
a
new tools to
intelligence and law enforcement officials important
fight present dan
an order
A
few
weeks
President
Bush
also
2001).
later,
(Bush
empowering
ger"
signed
him to authorize military trials in the United States and abroad for international terror
ists and
their
collaborators.
These
military
tribunals
can
impose
sentences
as severe
as
TOWARD AN ANTHROPOLOGYOF PUBLIC POLICY
45
death on a two-thirds vote, hold trials in secret, and rely on evidence that would be
a
Bush's order does not allow for judicial review.
rejected in civil court. Furthermore,
Some legal experts claim that the order appears to be an attempt by the president to
suspend the right of habeas corpus for those accused of plotting against the United
States (who would, by definition, be in violation of the laws of war and therefore ineligi
ble for protection under the U.S. Constitution).
The American Civil Liberties Union
has warned of the dangers to civil liberties posed by the bill. For example, section 802 of
the act redefines "domestic terrorism" so broadly that it could now encompass World
activists.a The act also permits a vast
Trade Organization protesters and Greenpeace
covert
of
information
array
gathering, effectively giving the Central
Intelligence
on Americans. The recent
and
National
Agency
Security Agency license to spy
history
of the CIAs involvement in illegally spying on seven thousand Americans inOperation
CHAOS (including anti-Vietnam War protesters, so-called black nationalists, and stu
dent activists) was precisely what led to restrictions on the CIA activities during the
1970s.
As one might expect, many critics voiced opposition to the bill, particularly the way it
redraws the line between civil liberties and national security. Reflecting on the history
of intelligence abuses, Senator Frank Church warned that domestic intelligence gath
was a "new form of
ering
power," unconstrained by law, often abused by presidents and
to
inclined
such as Robert
(McGee
2001). Even conservative Republicans,
grow
always
L. Barr Jr., characterized the government's plans as ethnic
power
grabbing,
profiling,
and overzealous
law enforcement.
Still others have denounced
the proposal for mili
tary tribunals and secret evidence as "third world" practices (Lardner 2001). During
the debate over the passage of the bill through congress, Senate Judiciary Chairman
Patrick Leahy raised several of these concerns. Attorney General John Ashcroft s reply
was that "talk won't prevent terrorism,"
was
adding that he
"deeply concerned about
the rather slow pace of the legislation" (TheWashington
Post 2001). Republican Sena
tor Orin Hatch voiced similar frustration with an attempt to debate the
in the
proposal
Senate; "[Delays] are very dangerous things. It's time to get off our duffs and do what's
right" (ibid).
is anthropologically
interesting about the
Stepping back from all this, what
PATRIOT Act is precisely the language inwhich itwas presented to the American pub
the dominant discourse was national security and the threat by terrorists
lic.While
in
the
words of George W. Bush (2001), "recognize no barrier of morality," "have
who,
no conscience,"
and "cannot be reasoned with," the policy narrative was filled with
a
at war," and the need to "bring down
of
metaphors
"danger," "the urgency of nation
walls" between
intelligence gathering and law enforcement. A recurring motif in the
discourse
of
the U.S.
government
was
that
these
measures
were
"necessary
tools"
to
enable "our nation's law enforcement,
national defense and intelligence personnel" to
to justice" (U.S. Department
terrorists
and
of Justice
criminals
other
dangerous
"bring
2004, 1). The very identification of these kinds of threats and crises in public policy
serve as a foil against which national
identity is consolidated and dissent pushed aside
the U.S. Department
of Justice
Feldman
1998;
2005).
(Campbell
Significantly,
to
defended
these new powers in terms of their contribution
combating pedophiles
(the other folk devils that pose a public threat to "our way of life").
THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
46
its flagrant exploitation of the themes of
The very title of the legislation?with
"state
of
and
of the nation?were
defense
"patriotism,"
emergency,"
similarly designed
to reassure the public about the righteousness
of the proposed
changes while
to
As
U.S.
the
bill.
General
Ashcroft
Attorney
opposition
marginalizing
opined in
November 2001, "The highest and most noble form of public service [is] the preserva
tion of American lives and liberty" (U.S. Department
of Justice 2001). This followed
President Bush's call for public unity and support for those men and women in the FBI,
law enforcement,
intelligence, customs, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
(ATF), and secret services who are "serving this country with excellence,
Explosives
and often with bravery" (Bush 2001).
The PATRIOT Act passed with little vocal opposition. Most critics either stone
walled or simply caved in to pressure to vote for the bill for fear of being deemed "soft
on terrorism" and,
on defense of the American nation.
Insight
by implication, weak
magazine reported that only two copies of the bill were made available in the hours just
before its passage, and most representatives
admitted to voting for the bill without
even
one
it
As
November
9,
2001).
seeing
(Insight,
Republican critic of the bill (Texas
representative
Ron Paul) complained,
The insult is to call this a "patriot bill" and suggest I'm not patriotic because I insisted upon
finding out what is in it and voting no. I thought itwas undermining the Constitution, so I
didn't
vote
for
it?and
therefore
I'm
somehow
not
a
patriot.
That's
insulting.
success in muting
was matched
political opposition
by the burden the act
on the various nonstate actors whom it affects. One
placed
good example is found in air
PATRIOT
Act
of aircraft illegal, the
While
the
renders
the
violation
transportation.
of this law is largely left to private industry in the form of either private
enforcement
sensitive to
security companies or the airlines themselves. Airlines are understandably
occurs after the
if
terrorist
lawsuits
another
attack
potential
culprits pass through their
own security checks. Thus,
to err on the side of caution about let
incentive
have
they
ting passengers on board even if passengers fully pass their own established security
The
standards.
The standards, however, are flexible and subject to interpretation based on the ste
2001, Assem Bayaa, an
reotypes of who a terrorist might be. For example, inDecember
American citizen of Middle Eastern descent, was removed from a United Airlines
secu
flight from Los Angeles to New York just prior to takeoff. Despite having cleared
crew
on
was
him
the
board
the
and
he
"felt
uncomfortable"
rity checks,
having
plane,
ordered off of the plane without any questions and without having been searched. A
civil rights lawsuit was filed against United Airlines, which subsequently filed amotion
to dismiss the case. A federal judge rejected the motion and stated that despite pilots'
a
or may not board an aircraft,
in
they do not have
having discretion
deciding who may
Union
Civil
Liberties
"license to discriminate"
2002a).
(American
While
the result in this particular case constituted a victory for civil liberties, the
more
to note is the broad latitude that the private airlines have
significant point
explanation for the
acquired in matters of "national security." The anthropological
United pilot's removal of Assem Bayaa should not be reduced to the legal language of
TOWARD AN ANTHROPOLOGYOF PUBLIC POLICY
47
are more
a
simple "discrimination." The effects of the policy process
complex. As pri
vate company, United Airlines's foremost concern is profit, which produces a tension
between
the cost of potential
lawsuits resulting from arguably insufficient security
measures
and the cost of implementing
those measures. Yet underlying
the pilot's
action was a complex mix of social and cultural factors having to do with "riskmanage
ment," "moral panic" (Comaroff and Comaroff
1999), and heightened
public fear
about Arabs and Islamic fundamentalists.
If even the pilot himself holds no such ste
reotypes about Arabs as dangerous extremists, it is hard for any pilot not to be influ
enced by public pressure or popular representations
that construe particular individu
als as likely terrorist suspects on the basis of their physical appearance.
What this case study illustrates is the triumph of the discourse of national security
over that of civil liberties?a
as much
of
triumph engineered
by the mobilization
rhetorics of fear and "states of emergency" as by those of patriotism and xenophobia.
sentiments and Islamophobia certainly achieve victories in some
While anti-foreigner
is
it
narrative
the
of "national security" that remains the irremovable refer
instances,
ence point that sanctifies the PATRIOT Act and against which
oppositional voices
to be heard. But it would be
to
view
the implementation
and
struggle
misleading
enforcement of the USA PATRIOT Act as simply amatter of the state versus civil soci
ety. Like policy in general, the PATRIOT Act binds together a wide variety of actors,
institutions, and agendas in new and ambiguous relationships. Actors with the legal,
or institutional
can
political,
leverage
"clarify" these relationships by appealing to the
discourses that dominate the current political climate. "National security" is perhaps
the foremost discourse of the American present, and itmanifests
itself inmyriad ways
aswell as in the way it iswoven into the fabric of
in the practice of
life
daily
public policy.
The current state of alert and call to action for a "war on terrorism" recalls a comment
long ago by the criticWalter Benjamin (1969,257), writing against another call to
crisis, and on the eve of another war: "The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the
'state of emergency' inwhich we live is not the exception but the rule.We must attain to
a
conception of history that is in keeping with this insight." Benjamin's thesis has more
than passing relevance to current U.S. defense policy. As Elaine Scarry (2002) wrote,
over the past
speed has repeatedly been invoked by governments
fifty years to central
ize power; counter ethical, legal, or constitutional objections; and sidestep the demo
cratic process in the United States.
made
a. Section
as
to include
to interna
of terrorism
the definition
"domestic,"
expands
opposed
in domestic
A person
terrorism
if he or she commits
any act "dangerous
engages
to human
to
if the act appears
life" that violates
the criminal
laws of a state or the United
States,
or coerce
a civilian
to (1) intimidate
be intended
the
of a govern
influence
(2)
population;
policy
or coercion;
or (3) affect the conduct
mass destruction,
ment
intimidation
of a government
by
by
tional,
802
terrorism.
assassination, or kidnapping (American Civil Liberties Union 2002b).
Notes
1. The Interest Group
for the Anthropology
of Public Policy
(IGAPP), affiliated with the American
an
was founded in 2004
to
and Janine R. Wedel)
Association,
(by Gregory Feldman
provide
Anthropological
s
institutional framework to identify and foster the work of anthropologists
studying policy. IGAPP
goal is to
48
the contributions
strengthen
on
theory
policy.
2. There have been many
lic debates
and influence
of the anthropology
THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
of public
policy
to the
discipline
and to interdisciplinary
to
in pub
conscious efforts on the part of anthropologists
personally participate
is Sol Tax's (1975) "action
One well-known
social and policy processes.
example
on the liberal-humanist
tradition of John Dewey, Tax stressed that research and new
Drawing
should help humanity
solve problems
that inhibit growth and development.
that
Believing
should engage in action aimed at improving a community's
capacity for self-determination,
anthropologists
Tax and his students from the University
such as the Fox Indian
of Chicago developed
community
projects,
anthropology."
knowledge
from 1938 to 1962.
Project in Tama, Iowa, which he directed
in
is Basch and colleagues'
Another example of anthropologists
(1999) focus on
taking part
public debates
to
Academia:
Chal
academia and higher education policy. Basch and the other contributors
Transforming
an
for an Engaged Anthropology
promote
referring "to
lenges and Opportunities
"engaged anthropology,"
to deal with them
that will affect anthropology
the anticipation
of changes
and to developing
strategies
to react"
stance shares much with the
rather than waiting
and intentionally,
(p. 291). This
proactively
public
in
interest
and the Public Interest; Sanday 1976), which emerged
(first proposed
anthropology
Anthropology
one where
to focus on the
in
anthropology,
anthropologists
relationship between basic and applied research
can be
to
would contribute
by public policy and with the
public policy by isolating "variables that
manipulated
of the point at which
the cost of changing
the expected benefits"
inputs outweighs
(p. xvii).
to policy (Belshaw 1976), or one that does
called this a "social engineering"
contemporaries
approach
not
the rational frameworks of the idea of policy making. Those engaged in public interest anthro
challenge
can contribute
on to demonstrate
to public education
how anthropologists
and
pology today have moved
identification
Some
movement
debates
spearheaded
by Robert
(Sanday 1998). This is also the focus of the public anthropology
more accessible
to make
to a diverse public, seeing this as an ethical
Borofsky, which also aims
anthropology
n.d.).
responsibility
(PublicAnthropology.org
3. Anthropological
but an
tradition lies in studying the local level (often "on-the-ground"
communities),
in the
the nature of the local. Gupta and Ferguson
(1997, 15) sug
questions
ongoing discussion
discipline
is not well
gested that "the idea of locality
thought
observed
that "we can no longer take communities
out" and called
to be
for its reexamination.
localized, on-the-ground
and site of their existence."
Ortner
entities,
(1997, 76)
or at least that
their local, on-the-ground
form is only one moment
4. Oxford
Online, http://www.oed.com
(accessed April 28, 2005).
English Dictionary
are
5. Increasingly, anthropologists
fieldwork among people connected with one
conducting de-localized
class that once had been part of an
another. For example, Ortner
(1997) studied a high school graduating
now
is
States.
the
United
that
"actual on-the-ground
community"
throughout
dispersed
were
in the field of social network
6. Pioneers
and Elizabeth
Bott,
John Barnes, Clyde Mitchell,
analysis
saw
in the 1950s.
at Manchester
of Social Anthropology
all associated with the Department
University
They
of relations that arose from
social structure as networks of relations and focused on "the actual configuration
of the Manchester
school
the exercise of conflict and power" (Scott 1991,27). For analysis of the contribution
to the
of social network theory, see Scott (1991, 27-33).
development
to
7. Laumann, Marsden,
that "features of a network can be used...
and Prensky
(1989,62) maintained
at the level of the collectivity." See also Marsden
show the consequences
of individual level network processes
(1981).
assertions about ethics have always reflected an ongoing
Association's
Anthropological
is to those they study. Still, through the disci
that anthropologists'
primary ethical responsibility
as
not always been in agreement
about what this means,
have
clearly evi
pline's history, anthropologists
in Ethics and the Profession of
she consid
denced by Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban
(1991). There,
Anthropology
in the 1970s illustrate
such as the censure of Boas in 1919 and Project Camelot
ered how controversies
8. The American
assumption
in policy processes,
research. While
clandestine
about the role of anthropologists
particularly
disagreement
Association
who
Boas was censured by the American Anthropological
for his public outcry of anthropologists
to spy on behalf of the United
States during World War I, the association
used their professional
identity
its first professional
ethics code following debates about Project Camelot, which had allegedly
developed
scientists engage in clandestine
research in South America for the United States govern
social
that
proposed
should
ment. In its 1971
stated such engagements
of Professional
the Association
Responsibility,"
"Principles
not be
pursued.
TOWARDAN ANTHROPOLOGYOF PUBLIC POLICY
49
a 1995 forum on the
in Current
focused
topic of "Objectivity and Militancy"
Anthropology
recently,
in
science and advocacy. There, Nancy Scheper
about the relationship between
anthropology
one that makes sure the
a "militant
primacy of the ethical is upheld through
anthropology,"
Hughes proposed
on the other hand, defended
on behalf of those studied. Roy D'Andrade,
objectivity
political engagements
and science, maintaining
that "any moral authority that anthropologists
may hold depends upon an objective
should be kept distinct."
of the world and to that end moral and objective models
understanding
More
on debates
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