[Asis-l] Fwd: [Tps] TPS/ECPR Policy Network -CFP: INTERPRETATION IN POLICY ANALYSIS
Jeremy Hunsinger
jhuns at vt.edu
Wed Aug 2 20:55:07 EDT 2006
I am interested in possibly submitting a panel to the conference
below on interpretative policy analysis about informational
institutions. If others are interested in contributing a paper in
this growing area that stands somewhat contrapositionally to much
current information policy analysis, drop me a line at jhuns at vt.edu
>
>
>
> CALL FOR PAPERS
>
>
>
> INTERPRETATION IN POLICY ANALYSIS: RESEARCH & PRACTICE
>
>
>
> 31 May - 2 JUNE 2007
>
> Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
>
>
>
> www.fsw.vu.nl/ipa
>
>
>
> Co-Organizers:
>
>
>
> Dvora
> Yanow
> Maarten Hajer
>
> Culture, Organization, &
> Management Political
> Science
>
> Vrije Universiteit-
> Amsterdam
> Universiteit van Amsterdam
>
>
>
> class=Section2>
>
> d.yanow at fsw.vu.nl
> m.a.hajer at uva.nl
>
>
>
>
>
> Advisory board:
>
> Frank Fischer, Rutgers University Steven
> Griggs, University of Birmingham
>
> Navdeep Mathur, University of Birmingham
>
>
>
> Ph.D. Workshop Advisory Board:
>
> Katharina Paul, Universiteit
> van Amsterdam
>
> Marleen van der Haar, Utrecht University Merlijn van
> Hulst, Erasmus University
>
>
>
> Although new labels come and go, the interpretive tradition has by
> now established itself in such a way as to inform a broad and
> growing community of scholars in fields such as public policy,
> organizational studies, political science, conflict resolution, and
> public administration. Influenced by the “interpretive turn” in
> the social sciences during the latter half of the 20th century,
> interpretive policy analytic approaches draw on a broad spectrum of
> philosophical and analytic inquiries, among them phenomenology,
> hermeneutics, critical theory, symbolic interactionism, pragmatism,
> and ethnomethodology, plus methods analyzing discourse, rhetoric,
> frames, the fact-value distinction, categories, metaphors, and so
> on. They offer an alternative to more positivistically-informed
> analytic tools such as survey research, regression and cost-benefit
> analyses.
>
>
>
> Interestingly, we have recently seen many successful ‘crossovers’
> in which scholars from different fields have collaborated in
> searching for a new agenda. ‘Deliberative democracy’ has met
> ‘Dispute resolution,’ for example, and many public policy scholars
> have also become acquainted with the work of the STS (Science,
> Technology, and Society) and Science Studies communities. These
> cross-epistemic community interactions are further evidence of the
> solidity of interpretive approaches within the practice-oriented
> social sciences, and they raise possibilities for new research
> agendas.
>
>
>
> Yet a word of caution is needed. Our creativity in finding new
> concepts (narrative, discourse, more recently ‘performance’ and
> ‘performativity’) could also lead to a proliferation of ‘fresh
> starts.’ We might thereby run the risky of forgetting, first, that
> the various concepts and approaches under the broad interpretive
> umbrella share a set of underlying ontological and epistemological
> assumptions, and, second, that the ‘added value’ of new concepts
> needs to be rigorously interrogated. Arguing from a position of
> confidence, these risks can be avoided; we can, and should, be
> precise about how new sets of questions emerge and also about how
> this builds upon established scholarship(s). Of course, new
> questions are often informed by new societal developments that
> raise our awareness of new ways of thinking; but this is something
> that needs to be addressed explicitly. Work in interpretive policy
> analysis has drawn explicit attention to the ways in which
> ontological and epistemological presuppositions, particularly those
> of a positivist hue, have shaped public policy research, public
> administration, and management without this influence itself being
> addressed explicitly in the research agenda. Reflexivity on ways
> of knowing and analyzing is central to interpretive approaches,
> which also call on all researchers and practitioners to be more
> reflective in their theorizing and analytic practices.
>
>
>
> What might all of this mean for our work nowadays? Is there, or
> can we create, a stable set of assumptions that informs our work?
> How do public policy scholars deal with their role in society? How
> do we relate to the political, and what analysis of the context of
> our research should we keep in mind while striving for superior
> scholarship?
>
>
>
> In the 2007 Amsterdam Conference on Interpretation in Policy
> Analysis, we take the solid existence of interpretive scholarship
> as our foundational ‘given,’ and from that starting point we wish
> to explore the advances that have been made in that scholarship and
> the possibilities for a research agenda for the years to come.
> This might include, for example, a consideration of the way in
> which interpretation in policy analysis now impacts on social and
> political developments, the role of the analyst, and emerging
> relationships between scholarly and practitioner communities.
> Building on the first conference held in Birmingham, UK in June
> 2006, the Amsterdam conference is intended to further establish the
> parameters of interpretive policy analysis and its practice, as
> well as the community of researchers and practitioners engaged in
> such analysis.
>
>
>
> Conference papers might engage one or more of the following:
>
>
>
> $ the contribution of a particular theoretical or
> philosophical approach to policy analysis (e.g., pragmatism)
>
>
>
> $ clarification of approaches in use (e.g., varieties of
> discourse analysis or narrative analyses)
>
>
>
> $ case studies from particular policy issue arenas (e.g.,
> local governance; asylum or immigration policy; food policy)
>
>
>
> $ methodological issues in doing interpretive policy
> analysis (e.g., reflexivity in policy analytic practices; getting,
> and using, feedback from ‘informants’; issues in using new
> recording technologies; evaluating software programs)
>
>
>
> $ the relationship between policy analytic practices and
> deliberative democracy and/or other theories of governance
>
>
>
> $ interpretive perspectives on key topics (e.g., community
> conflict resolution practices; policy evaluation; leadership;
> network organizations; other public management questions)
>
>
>
> (Papers from the conference may be considered for a special issue
> of Critical Public Policy: Analysis and Practice, General Editor -
> Steven Griggs (s.f.griggs at bham.ac.uk); Reviews Editor - Pauline Jas
> (p.e.jas at bham.ac.uk); Forums Editor - Navdeep Mathur
> (n.mathur at bham.ac.uk).)
>
> The conference organizers welcome proposals for: individual
> papers; full panels (with papers); and roundtables focused on
> discussion of a common theme (rather than the formal presentation
> of papers). Paper, panel, and roundtable proposals (short
> abstracts) and inquiries should be sent to Dvora Yanow
> <d.yanow at fsw.vu.nl> no later than 15 January 2007.
>
>
>
> In addition, one or more of the sessions will be devoted to
> methodological and/or doctoral student workshops, on the model of a
> “Master Class” as used in musical instrument studies. Please send
> inquiries or expressions of interest to Merlijn van Hulst
> <vanhulst at fsw.eur.nl> by 15 January 2007.
>
>
>
> Registration fee (includes 2 lunches): post-Ph.D.: 160 euros;
> student: 80 euros.
>
>
>
> Venue and Accommodation: The conference will be held at Het
> Trippenhuis, a 17th century monument in the old centre of
> Amsterdam, the location of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts
> and Sciences since 1812: http://www.knaw.nl/organisation/
> history.html. Hotel and other information is forthcoming through
> the conference website, www.fsw.vu.nl/ipa.
>
>
>
> Canal boat cruise: See Amsterdam from a canal boat! Optional
> Thursday night activity (additional cost; information forthcoming).
>
>
>
>
>
> Dvora Yanow
>
> Strategic Chair in Meaning and Method
>
> Department of Culture, Organization & Management
>
> Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen
>
> Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
>
> THE NETHERLANDS
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Tps at listserv.cddc.vt.edu
> http://listserv.cddc.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/tps
jeremy hunsinger
Assistant Professor
Pratt Institute
www.cddc.vt.edu
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