Knowledge in Policy: Embodied, Inscribed, Enacted

by Richard Freeman (Editor), Steve Sturdy (Editor)

Overview

This important collection presents a radical reconception of the place of knowledge in contemporary policymaking in Europe, based not on assumptions about evidence, expertise or experience but on the different forms that knowledge takes.

Knowledge is embodied in people, inscribed in documents and instruments, and enacted in specific circumstances. Empirical case studies of health and education policy in different national and international contexts demonstrate the essential interdependence of different forms and phases of knowledge. They illustrate the ways in which knowledge is mobilised and resisted, and draw attention to key problems in the processing and transformation of knowledge in policy work.

This novel theoretical framework offers real benefits for policymakers, academics in public policy, public administration, management studies, sociology, education, public health and social work, and those with a practical interest in education and health and related fields of public policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781447309987
Publisher:	Bristol University Press
Publication date:	05/01/2014
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Richard Freeman teaches theory and method in the Graduate School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh. Following comparative studies of health and health care, his recent work has been concerned with knowledge and practice in public policy. Steve Sturdy is head of Science, Technology and Innovation Studies at the University of Edinburgh, and has published widely in the history and sociology of medical science and medical practice.

Table of Contents

Introduction: knowledge in policy - embodied, inscribed, enacted ~ Richard Freeman and Steve Sturdy;

Part One: Policy knowledge in space and time;

Seeing knowledge in mental health in Scotland ~ Jennifer Smith-Merry;

Knowledge moves: regulation and the evaluation of Portuguese schools ~ Natércio Afonso and Estela Costa;

Knowledge, policy and coordinated action: mental health in Europe ~ Richard Freeman and Steve Sturdy;

Part Two: Embodied, inscribed and enacted knowledges;

'We know who to talk to': embodied knowledge in England's Department of Health ~ Jo Maybin;

Reconstructing school inspectorates in Europe: the role of inscribed knowledge ~ Sotiria Grek;

Enacting knowledge in a European project ~ Maria José dos Santos Freitas;

Part Three: Knowledge interests, knowledge conflict and knowledge work;

Knowledge interests: promoting and resisting change in mental health in Hungary ~ Bori Fernezelyi and Gábor Eröss;

Knowledge conflicts: embodiment, inscription and the education of children with learning disabilities in Germany ~ Alma Demszky;

Knowledge work: organising mental health care networks in Belgium ~ Sophie Thunus, Gaëtan Cerfontaine and Frédéric Schoenaers;

Knowledge and policy in research and practice ~ Richard Freeman and Steve Sturdy.

Editorial Reviews

"A very thought-provoking book for anyone involved in policymaking, and in trying to understand how and why policy is, or is not, made and implemented in different contexts." SRA Research Matters.

From the Publisher

"A very thought-provoking book for anyone involved in policymaking, and in trying to understand how and why policy is, or is not, made and implemented in different contexts."

SRA Research Matters

"A very thought-provoking book for anyone involved in policymaking, and in trying to understand how and why policy is, or is not, made and implemented in different contexts."

SRA Research Matters.