Overview

The absurdity of bureaucracy offers a humorous ethnographic account of policy implementation set in contemporary Danish bureaucracy. Taking the reader deep into the hallways of governmental administration and municipal caseworkers' offices, the book sets out to explore what characterizes policy implementation as a mode of human agency. Using the notions of absurdity and sense-making as lenses through which to explore the dynamic relationship between a policy and its effects, the book reclaims 'implementation studies' for the qualitative sciences and emphasizes the existential dilemma that any policymaker and implementer must confront. Following step-by-step the planning and implementation of the randomized controlled trial, Active - Back Sooner, the book sets out to show that 'going wrong' is not a question of implementation failure but is in fact the only way in which implementation may happen. -- .

Full Product Details

Author:   Nina Holm Vohnsen
Publisher:   Manchester University Press
Imprint:   Manchester University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.10cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.299kg
ISBN:  

9781526150066

ISBN 10:   1526150069
Pages:   208
Publication Date:   25 August 2020
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Series editor’s preface Acknowledgements Reading guide Central people, documents, and organizations Prologue: Labor days Introduction: the absurdity of bureaucracy 1 Anticipations Portrait 1: “making a difference” Portrait 2: the perfect plan Analysis: a container of discrete agendas 2 Mutations Portrait 3: the trial mutates Portrait 4: satisfying needs Analysis: vectors of concern 3 Multiplications Portrait 5: the purpose multiplies Portrait 6: the productivity of controversy Analysis: absurdity is a perspective that appreciates the sum-total 4 The quest for meaning Portrait 7: “bending” the rules and agreements Portrait 8: the end of meaning Analysis: they rebel, they do not resist 5 How implementation works Epilogue: bureaucracy—choose your own adventure Appendix: data, position, method -- .

Reviews

The Absurdity of Bureaucracy is a rich and valuable work. The book's main quality is its extraordinary ethnographic richness. It is quite unique in its depth, scope and ethnographic sensitivity. [...] An important and welcomed contribution to the anthropological study of bureaucracy and policy.' Halvard Vike, Journal of Anthropology -- .

Author Information

Nina Holm Vohnsen is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Aarhus University

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