Overview

The House of Commons is one of Britain's mysterious institutions: constantly in the news yet always opaque. In this ground-breaking anthropological study of the world’s most famous parliament, Emma Crewe reveals the hidden mechanisms of parliamentary democracy.Examining the work of Members of Parliament – including neglected areas such as constituencies and committees – this book provides unique insights into the actual lives and working relationships of parliamentarians. 'Why do the public loathe politicians but often love their own MP?' the author asks. The antagonistic façade of politics irritates the public who tend to be unaware that, backstage, democracy relies on MPs consulting, compromising and cooperating across political parties far more than is publicly admitted. As the book shows, this is only one of myriad contradictions in the labyrinths of power. Based on unprecedented access and two years of interviews and research in the Palace of Westminster and MPs’ constituencies, The House of Commons: An Anthropology of MPs at Work challenges the existing scholarship on political institutions and party politics. Moving beyond the narrow confines of rational choice theory and new institutionalism, Emma Crewe presents a radical alternative to the study of British politics by demonstrating that all of its processes hinge on culture, ritual and social relations. A must-read for anyone interested in political anthropology, politics, or the Westminster model.

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9781474234580

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Reviews

Every tribe needs its anthropologist and those currently sitting on the green benches in the Houses of Parliament have found theirs in Emma Crewe. She has a keen ear, a flair for divining character and for capturing episodes; and she marries the three in this fascinating study. -- Peter Hennessy, Professor of Contemporary British History, Queen Mary, University of London, UK

This anthropological tin-opener lifts the lid on Parliament and asks what drives people ... to so desperately want to be an MP ... [Crewe] is absolutely on the button in her vivid descriptions. Times Higher Education Every tribe needs its anthropologist and those currently sitting on the green benches in the Houses of Parliament have found theirs in Emma Crewe. She has a keen ear, a flair for divining character and for capturing episodes; and she marries the three in this fascinating study. -- Peter Hennessy, Professor of Contemporary British History, Queen Mary, University of London, UK Politicians, and MPs in particular, are usually regarded as a weird breed set apart from normal people. So it is perhaps not surprising that an anthropologist was interested in studying how we behaved, interacted with others and coped with the pressures of our job. MPs are scrutinised and criticised more than ever, so it is refreshing to find research which has studied the actual work MPs do, not based on preconceptions and prejudice but on the reality of our daily lives. -- Dame Anne Begg, MP for Aberdeen South and Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Comittee Emma Crewes offers a rare ethnographic perspective on what life is actually like for the members of the House of Commons and how the MPs view their jobs. Written in a lively style, and benefiting from unusual access to behind-the-scenes, rarely glimpsed settings, The House of Commons will lead readers to rethink what they thought they knew about this oft-disparaged institution. -- David Kertzer, Brown University, USA Emma Crewe has written a perceptive, balanced and thorough research project into modern day politics. She brings it to life by her anecdotes and quotations, which are then brought together to form the conclusions. Being followed around by an anthropologist was, at first, daunting - but better than being followed by a tabloid reporter! And the work is a more sympathetic and realistic analysis of our much-maligned profession. -- Rt Hon Sir George Young Bt CH, MP for North West Hampshire

This anthropological tin-opener lifts the lid on Parliament and asks what drives people ... to so desperately want to be an MP ... [Crewe] is absolutely on the button in her vivid descriptions. Times Higher Education The House of Commons does what anthropology does best, namely, to depict how people actually behave rather than how documents and rules stipulate or predict how they will or should behave. It also shows the cultural and personal nature of supposedly formal and purely legal institutions ... sending an anthropologist in, especially one who achieves the access of Crewe in this instance, provides a view that few people ever get of their representatives in action-a view that ideally those representatives want us to have, so that we can more fully appreciate the pressures they are under and the work they actually accomplish. -- David Eller Anthropology Review Database Subtle ... [and] empathetic ... The book itself explores the creatures in the lower house with a mix of first-hand experience, interviews, anecdotes and a recollection of history. It still has the feel of a text book that would be handy for politics students ... but also, as an anthropology, it touches on several aspects of human behaviour that [are] prevalent in many competitive environments and workplaces. -- Mel Gomes TheSubstantive.com Every tribe needs its anthropologist and those currently sitting on the green benches in the Houses of Parliament have found theirs in Emma Crewe. She has a keen ear, a flair for divining character and for capturing episodes; and she marries the three in this fascinating study. -- Peter Hennessy, Professor of Contemporary British History, Queen Mary, University of London, UK Politicians, and MPs in particular, are usually regarded as a weird breed set apart from normal people. So it is perhaps not surprising that an anthropologist was interested in studying how we behaved, interacted with others and coped with the pressures of our job. MPs are scrutinised and criticised more than ever, so it is refreshing to find research which has studied the actual work MPs do, not based on preconceptions and prejudice but on the reality of our daily lives. -- Dame Anne Begg, MP for Aberdeen South and Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Comittee Emma Crewes offers a rare ethnographic perspective on what life is actually like for the members of the House of Commons and how the MPs view their jobs. Written in a lively style, and benefiting from unusual access to behind-the-scenes, rarely glimpsed settings, The House of Commons will lead readers to rethink what they thought they knew about this oft-disparaged institution. -- David Kertzer, Brown University, USA Emma Crewe has written a perceptive, balanced and thorough research project into modern day politics. She brings it to life by her anecdotes and quotations, which are then brought together to form the conclusions. Being followed around by an anthropologist was, at first, daunting - but better than being followed by a tabloid reporter! And the work is a more sympathetic and realistic analysis of our much-maligned profession. -- Rt Hon Sir George Young Bt CH, MP for North West Hampshire

Author Information

Emma Crewe is a Research Associate at the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at SOAS, University of London, UK.

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