This paper considers some of the ways in which the fuzzy logics of 'social impact' are reconfiguring the production of anthropology and micro-sociology within and beyond the academy.
Paper long abstract
'Social impact' has become a way of assessing academic performance with ambitions to measure it. It has a heightened significance in the UK in the run up to the 2013 REF where impact has a greater effect on REF 'scores' than publications. This move towards justifying the public uses and benefits of universities ironically arrives just as they have effectively been privatized: no longer entirely a public good universities must nevertheless serve the public good. This paper considers some of the ways in which these fuzzy logics are reconfiguring the production of anthropology and micro-sociology within and beyond the academy.