Why an anthropology of public policy?

Abstract

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 See van Velsen (1967).