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.