******************************************************
* http://www.anthropologymatters.com *
* A postgraduate project comprising online journal, *
* online discussions, teaching and research resources *
* and international contacts directory. *
******************************************************
Dear all,
We have extended the call of abstracts for the *Policy meets Actor Network
Theory: doctoral student workshop *to* *be held in June 21st/22nd, 2012 in
Canterbury, UK. There is no participation fee and accommodation costs will
be covered by the event organizers.*
*PhD students interested in joining the workshop should email an abstract (*500
words*) to the organizers which will show how their research project fits
within the parameters of the workshop and provide a brief summary of their
paper. *Deadline for abstract submission April 15th*.
Selected participants will be asked to submit full paper two weeks prior to
the event for circulation.
Call for participation:
*Policy meets Actor Network Theory: doctoral student workshop
*
Policy has become an “increasingly central concept and instrument in the
organization of contemporary societies [and] now impinges on all areas of
life so that it’s virtually impossible to ignore or to escape its
influence” (Wedel et al 2005: 3). It has been closely associated with the
political in terms of decision making, yet it stems into specific domains
for setting goals and means of achieving them. Policy occupies space at the
crossroads – for some it is at the overlap of authority, expertise and
order. For others it merges politics, science, technology, and society. And
for yet others, policy is associated with administration, management and
organization. It conveys deliberation and purpose, competence as well as
rationality.
The analytical approach known as Actor Network Theory (ANT), born in
science and technology studies, is notoriously known for not being a theory
in the strict sense of a testable, predictive and explanatory model.
Starting as a negative reading of what is the world enacted in much of
social theory, ANT offers a set of ontological considerations in the larger
scheme of things and associated methodological propositions at the level of
research design. In the 1990’s, ANT inspired analytics have also ventured
to studies of policy via the governmentality studies and their interest in
mentalities as well as technologies of government and in the action at a
distance. However, governmentality studies today as a mainstream body
within policy analysis are more associated with the former interest in
‘mentalities’ of governing.
Our workshop wants to build on these traditions. We want to ask how ANT may
enhance our understanding of policy beyond the rationalist vs. social
constructionist debate which has marked policy analysis. This question also
implies interest in innovative research design for studying policy which
would move beyond the traditional commitments to either global or local
scaling of research. We want to engage with some of the key propositions of
ANT as deployed in our own empirical analyses of complex realities in the
making. Here we refer to a series of methodological commitments applied to
the study of policy worlds:
· principle of symmetry as a way of working in the same analytical
register with both success and failure of a policy or a reform
· study of translations as a way of working with the complexities of new
and often unexpected realities crafted in policy process and implementation
· study of socio-material arrangements with a revised concept of agency
which allows for materialities to have effects rather than merely index the
social and the symbolic; the question extends to what materialities are
engaged in holding policy worlds together
· study of ‘ontological politics’ as a way of working with non-coherent
realities and their co-ordination,
· question of ‘performativity’ as a way to rearticulate analytical focus
on the ‘existence’ of policy worlds in the making
Each participant will have 60 minutes allocated to their work. During this
hour they will introduce their paper, providing an overview of the content
and argument (approximately 10-15 minutes), followed by critical comments
and questions from a predefined main discussant (approximately 10-15
minutes). The author then has a ‘right of reply’ (approx. 10 minutes),
before general discussion of the paper (approx. 20-25 minutes).
All papers (max 8000 words) will be electronically circulated to all
participants two weeks in advance of the workshop. Participants are
required to read the papers. Organizers will name main discussants for each
paper who will prepare a detailed reflection of the allocated paper.
PhD students interested in joining the workshop should email an abstract
(500 words) to the organizers which will show how their research project
fits within the parameters of the workshop and provide a brief summary of
their paper. *Deadline for abstract submission April 15th*.
Selected participants will be asked to submit full paper two weeks prior to
the event for circulation.
Workshop will take place on 21 and 22 June 2012.
Venue for the workshop is Canterbury, UK. There will be no attendance fee
charged and accommodation costs will be covered by the organizers.
Contact:
David Kocman, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research,
University of Kent, [log in to unmask]
Aleksandra Lis, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Central
European University, [log in to unmask]
*************************************************************
* Anthropology-Matters Mailing List *
* To join this list or to look at the archived previous *
* messages visit: *
* http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/Anthropology-Matters.HTML *
* If you have ALREADY subscribed: to send a message to all *
* those currently subscribed to the list,just send mail to: *
* [log in to unmask] *
* *
* Enjoyed the mailing list? Why not join the new *
* CONTACTS SECTION @ www.anthropologymatters.com *
* an international directory of anthropology researchers *
***************************************************************
|
