Since I trained as a social anthropologist at Edinburgh University in the early 1980s I have been wrestling with whether I wish to be defined by that disciplinary orientation. Whatever work I was doing, the label seemed to stick in my mind – often with me joking about being a recovering anthropologist even when I was trying to be a social development worker, policy wonk or manager. At last I have concluded that like so many binary choices, a yes…
We face various emergencies – climate change, inequalities, conflict, mental health and now pandemics – as well as attacks on peace, democracy and justice – white (and other) supremacy, Kafkaesque bureaucracies, cuts to public services, and attacks on the rule of law – that require intelligent leaders. And yet if we don’t rethink how we conceive of leadership, then poor leaders thrive and decent leaders don’t stand a chance. I’m editing a volume about leadership (part of a series with…
In my last blog I wrote about evaluating the past; this note asserts that politicians fail to anticipate the future with sufficient imagination. Politicians in democracies are often brilliant at anticipating what they need to do to win the next election, in most cases staying in close touch with their local party members and as many electors as possible. One British MP told me he has canvassed every Saturday of his life for decades and puts a letter through the…
Whether evaluating energy projects in Kenya or Sri Lanka, services provided to UK MPs in Westminster or a UK university’s grant-making, anthropological research skills helped me side-step the customary assumptions. Evaluation often involves simplistic questions like, ‘Is this project a success or failure?’, when most human endeavour is usually both. It frequently fails to take account of plural views, complex histories and the socio-political processes involved in evaluating people. It is often mind-deadeningly dull and formulaic when creativity is needed….
Accountability and scrutiny are vital to effective governance. UK Government aid and development strategies and programmes are scrutinised by Parliament (the International Development Committee and the Public Accounts Committee), related financial watchdogs (the Independent Commission for Aid Impact and the National Audit Office) and civil society (including NGOs and universities – albeit many of whom are recipients of DFID funding for delivery or analysis services). So what happens if the IDSC is disbanded? But first, how have the scrutineers responded to the news that DFID and FCO will…