I’d like to commend the AAA on the creation of its first “policy brief” last September. Although I didn’t hear about it at the time, it deserves mention.
The AAA Committee on Public Policy of is proud to introduce a new informational resource for the public policy community: the AAA Policy Brief. AAA Policy Briefs address policy issues and initiatives from an anthropological perspective, examining the insights that contemporary anthropological research contributes to policy discourse. These theme-focused briefs do not take a position on public policy issues. Instead, they introduce the reader to anthropological knowledge that is necessary for making fully-informed policy decisions.
You can find these policy briefs on the “government relations” page of the AAA website. Currently there is only one such brief, about labor policy, “specifically the right of employees to organize unions as outlined by the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800, S. 1041)” [download PDF]. It reads like an executive summary of an Annual Review article, with a focus on policy implications.
I think it is a great resource to highlight the role that anthropological knowledge can play in the wider public sphere. If you have an idea for a policy brief you’d like to contribute, here is the information on how to do so:
If you are interested in contributing to a future Policy Brief or in suggesting a future topic, please contact Dinah Winnick of the AAA Department of External International & Government Relations at dwinnick@aaanet.org or (703) 528-1902.
I hope that in the future the AAA will do more to draw attention to these policy briefs, posting them to a blog rather than burying them in the website.
While I am not American, and so not under the aegis of the AAA, I find it worrying that they are taking it upon themselves to speak for a whole discipline on political matters. Having read the document, I can see the worth in advertising the anthropological scholarship and getting the word out that “this is what anthropologists have written”. Yet I am suspicious of the claim that “These theme-focused briefs do not take a position on public policy issues”. To enroll research within a political program in order to show it supports or undermines a particular piece of legislation is going to involve taking a position. To say “Ethnographic research supports the underlying assumption of the Employee Freedom of Choice Act” is taking a position. Whether that position is right or wrong is not my point here: whether a professional body can take a position on behalf of a discipline is the real concern. It is a perfectly reasonable thing (and perhaps even a duty) for anthropologists and groups of anthropologists to take a position on things. But I don’t think it’s the job of a professional body to act like they’re speaking for “all of us[you?]”.
I think we need to be a bit realistic here. Richard writes that “whether a professional body can take a position on behalf of a discipline is the real concern”. But in fact disciplinary associations do this all the time. Consider the following:
“American Psychological Association press releases and position papers”:http://www.apa.org/releases/
“American Sociological Association advocacy page”:http://www.asanet.org/cs/root/leftnav/advocacy/advocacy
“American Political Science Association Press Room”:http://www.apsanet.org/section_77.cfm
In America, at any rate, this sort of thing is a regular part of how our institutions work. It _is_ throwing our hat into the ring, so the easy objectivity of nonparticipation is not an option, and the hard option of judicious engagement requires a lot of competence which, I must admit, the AAA may or may not prove to be possessed of…
Tut tut, if the American Psychological Association jumped off a cliff, would you want to jump off a cliff too? 😛 And with that I’m going to bed.
but but but… but everyone _else_ is doing it…!
This just in from the AAA themselves:
Kerim, thank you for calling attention to the AAA Public Policy Briefs. We appreciate this attention, and would also like to note that more AAA policy briefs are forthcoming. To offer suggestions for future topics, please contact Damon Dozier, Director of Public Affairs, at ddozier@aaanet.org or 703-528-1902 ext. 3008. Note: Dinah Winnick is no longer the contact for these briefs.
Information about the AAA Public Policy Briefs and other Government Relations news will be included on the Public Policy/Advocacy pages of the redesigned AAA website. The redesigned website is set to launch in early February.
Thanks!
Jennifer Steffensen
AAA Media Relations Assistant