Why an anthropology of public policy?

Article first published online: 9 FEB 2005

DOI: 10.1111/j.0268-540X.2005.00321.x

Issue

Anthropology Today

Volume 21, Issue 1, pages 1–2, February 2005

Additional Information

Wedel, J. R. and Feldman, G. (2005), Why an anthropology of public policy?. Anthropology Today, 21: 1–2. doi: 10.1111/j.0268-540X.2005.00321.x

¹
Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. Email jwedel@gmu.edu.
²
Assistant Professor of International Migration at the University of British Columbia. Email gfel@interchange.ubc.ca.

1
We have co-founded the Interest Group for the Anthropology of Public Policy (IGAPP), which is affiliated with the American Anthropological Association, to provide an institutional framework to identify and foster the work of anthropologists studying policy. IGAPP's initial projects include compiling existing anthropological studies of policy discourses, processes and impacts, and developing curricula and syllabuses. We welcome the input of readers in these efforts, which we believe are a crucial first step toward strengthening the contributions of the anthropology of public policy to the discipline and to interdisciplinary theory on policy. Please send ideas and bibliographic references to: gfel@interchange.ubc.ca and jwedel@gmu.edu
2
See van Velsen (1967).