Abstract

AGUDO SANCHIZ, Alejandro. La vida social de los documentos de las políticas públicas. Nueva antropol [online]. 2015, vol.28, n.83, pp.123-146. ISSN 0185-0636.

Drawing on the ethnography of development programs and the analysis of public policy, the paper delves into some relatively unexplored aspects of policy formation: namely, the evolution of certain key concepts and their social work in a continuous process of persuasion and discussion. The resulting policy texts encode the negotiations and social relations that produced them while seeking to limit future contests over meaning and call forth consensus on the feasibility of public action. The author draws on both written sources and an analysis of his experience as an anthropologist-consultant on the Oportunidades program's impact assessments to illustrate the interests, arguments and divergent points of view that produce policy documents.

Keywords : co-responsibility; ethnography; impact evaluation; Progresa Oportunidades program.

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