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- Convenors:
-
Alex Clegg
(Chair of the RAI's Policy and Practice Committee)
Claire Somerville (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies)
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Short Abstract:
How can anthropological insights gain more influence in fast-moving, and increasingly chaotic, political worlds? The Royal Anthropological Institute's Policy and Practice Committee aims to improve the links between anthropologists, policy-makers and practitioners for the benefit of all.
Long Abstract:
Over the last decade the research landscape in the UK has shifted towards an increasing prioritisation of the achievement of forms of non-academic social impact and relevance. The aim of this being to ensure that publicly funded research can inform public policy and spur innovation. Despite anthropologists having contributed to sectors including international development and the global agenda, market research and government policymaking, difficult questions remain.
This roundtable seeks to discuss ethnographic and anthropological research on organisational policy and practice but also how anthropologists and practitioners can effectively and justly engage in/with organisations outside academia.
A key focus of the discussion will be: i) how anthropologists can effectively research and engage with fast-moving political worlds. ii) How anthropological insights can be better used and scrutinised by those outside of the discipline. iii) What training or resources are needed to help those seeking to engage with government, non-government and private sector organisations.
The Royal Anthropological Institute's Policy and Practice Committee will bring together anthropologists, practitioners and those using anthropological insights to keep up with the fast changing systems of governance and wider policy-engagement ecosystem.
Accepted contributions:
Session 1 Thursday 13 April, 2023, -Suriyah Bi (University of Oxford)
Contribution short abstract:
This paper considers the often invisible negotiations carried out behind the scenes to introduce policy proposals in Parliament. I draw on lived experience bridging academic research in parliament.
Contribution long abstract:
Policy in practice involves consistently negotiating conflicts and interests within and between academia, and the policy making world. Some policy issues are 'hot topics' often gate kept by particular academics and/or the political personalities, which can often mute genuine academic research from making a difference at the community level. Taking the example of the most recent report published in November 2022 "Index of Islamophobia", I will discuss how the index was proposed to a member of the House of Lords in 2018, but scrapped. Four years later, and after much internal deliberation I decided to publish the index as an independent piece of work, as the index has the ability to make a difference to both the law, and the lives of tens of thousands of people who are not only at risk of hate crimes, but are subject to hate crimes on a daily basis. The research I conduct and publish falls under the umbrella of the Equality Act Review, an organisation I founded in 2018. Since our founding we have remained entirely unfunded and voluntary. I have found the organisation to be locked out of funding calls both within academia (universities, funding bodies such as ESRC UKRI) due to the narrow definition to the the term 'impact', as well as the rigid structures of funding calls and applications. The success of a policy project ultimately lies in negotiating across the tectonic plates of institutional structures of the academic and policy worlds.
Kelly Fagan Robinson (University of Cambridge)
Contribution short abstract:
In 2021 Robinson partnered with Islington Council as part of their Inequality Taskforce and 'Let's Talk Islington', Islington Council's biggest ever-programme of public engagement into inequality.
Contribution long abstract:
In 2021, Robinson partnered with Islington Council as part of their Inequality Taskforce and 'Let's Talk Islington', Islington Council's biggest ever-programme of public engagement initative investigating inequality. Through the partnership, Robinson was introduced to Islington primary schools with support from the Access and Inequalities team, leading to the pilot 'Anthropology By Children' (ABC) for year 6 students.
The pilot:
1) introduced the children to different field research methods while also
2) opening up conversations about inequality amongst the students in the world around us.
Since we began work together, the project has garnered interest beyond the initial pilot, with further planned work within Pupil Referral Units (PRU), roll-outs at Cambridge's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MA&A), and an extension into London community centres and a refugee support network.
Commentary in roundtable discussion would focus on successes and challenges of the ABC/Islington collaboration:
1. Discussion on how working with Islington is influencing research approach (timelines, outputs)
2. How Anthropology is influencing future approaches of various policy teams in Islington
3. Testimonies on the work conducted and potentials for impact
4. Alignment of priorities: access, support and equality in Robinson's research, and priorities for policy in Islington
Daniel Beunza
Contribution short abstract:
Between 2016-22 ethnographers in the UK engaged the financial industry through a unique intervention that mobilized research methods training for improvement in cultural and ethical standards. The experience could provide useful guidance for anthropologists in other industries and contexts.
Contribution long abstract:
Over the past two decades, financial service practitioners and organizations in the UK have provided fertile ground for ethnographic and anthropological research, and the experience could provide useful guidance for anthropologists in other industries and contexts. As in other consumer product industries, large banks like JP Morgan have over the past years engaged ethnographers in user experience (UX) studies that assist with improvements in financial product design. But in addition to this, and between 2016-22, ethnographers in the UK engaged the financial industry through a unique form of intervention that mobilized research methods training for the purpose of improvement in cultural and ethical standards across the industry. The intervention was orchestrated by an independent industry body, the Financial Services Culture Board (FSCB), and it engaged an academic ethnographer to provide three training programmes in ethnography and fieldwork. Indeed, the intervention was part of the FSCB’s mandate, founded following a report by the UK Parliament that identified a need to improve professional standards, and included the administration of an industry survey on bank culture. My roundtable presentation will consider what aspects of the ethnographic interventions proved effective, which aspects did not, and the general lessons that can be derived. Effective elements include the existence of a host organisation like the FSCB that managed the relationship between the ethnographer and the banks, the development of a new approach to cultural intervention that reflexively addressed the corporations' own challenges, an exceptional historical context that called for new approaches to industry interventions.
Amy Carmichael (UK Government)
Contribution short abstract:
What are the opportunities and challenges for anthropologists seeking to inform government policy? How can anthropologists be supported to effectively influence government? Amy will share reflections from her work as a senior policy advisor and policy influencing trainer.
Contribution long abstract:
Amy will share her experiences and personal observations as a senior policy advisor in the civil service, where she first worked on prison reform policy and is now part of the Open Innovation Team (OIT). The OIT is a cross-government unit working with academics to generate analysis and ideas for policy, as well as to build their skills in influencing policy.
She will discuss opportunities and challenges for anthropologists seeking to inform government policy, as well as how they could be supported with this. She will cover the accessibility of research findings and methodology to policymakers, effective communication styles, the role of synthesis, and the mismatched timescales of ethnographic research and policy development. She will also explore how the profile of anthropology as a source of evidence could be raised in government.