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PERFORMINGREFORMINSOUTH

EASTEUROPE:

INTERMEDIARIES,TRANSLATIONANDFLEXIBLEAGENCY

PaulStubbs,TheInstituteofEconomics,Zagreb,[email protected]

PolicyinMotion:transnationaltranslationandassemblages7May2013

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Structure

ConceptualUnderpinnings AJourneyinSearchofaMethod SituatingSouthEastEurope Case1:ReformingSocialWelfareSystemsinBosnia-Herzegovinaandbeyond Case2:UNICEFsTravellingTechnicism:childcaresystemreforminSouthEastEurope

Conclusionsandconcerns

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ConceptualUnderpinningsI:

Performance/Performativity

ButlerandGoffmannviaJeffreyTheImprovisedState Performanceaspracticeratherthantheexpressionof

essentialisedidentities

Actingandspeakingproduceandsustainpoliticalcategoriesandboundedterritorialisations

Distinctionbetweenfront-stageandback-stageperformances

Importanceofimprovisationanddeparturefromscripts(subversivepractices)

Improvisationseekstoilluminatetheveryunfoldingofideas...astheyarearticulatedandpractisedacrossarangeofsocio-spatialsettings,manyofwhicharenottheclassicdomainofstatebureaucrats,policymakersorpoliticians(Jeffrey,2013:40)

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ConceptualUnderpinningsII:

IntermediariesandTranslationLendvaiandStubbs

Roleofstrategicbrokers,boundaryspanners,intermediaries,translators,transactorswhoconnect,facilitateorsmooththepassage

betweendiverseactorsinachainandarelocatedin-between

Translationastheconstanttransformationandmodificationofmeaningsinactornetworks

Reformsascomplex,multipleandfluidprocesses Contactzonesliminality,assymetryofpower,translationandnegotiation;power-chargedencounters

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ConceptualUnderpinningsIII:

FlexibleAgencyWedel/StubbsandWedel (Global)governanceactorswhotranscendtaken-for-granted

rolesandresponsibilities,normalisedinstitutionalconstraints,andtraditionalstandardsofaccountability

FacilitatedbyNPM/sub-contracting;ICTs;newmobilesovereignties;transidentities...

Ontheground,anarmyoffly-in,fly-outexpertsareengagedinadviceandimplementation,workingwithkeyinternationalorganisations,disruptingdomesticsocialcontractswhilstpresentingtheprivatisationandde-regulationofservicesasan

essentiallytechnicalproject.Thisofteninvolvesthecreationofnew,hybrid,fitforpurposebodiesandpartnerships,seenasbestabletofasttrackreformandbypasssupposedlyslowmoving,andinherentlyconservative,civilservicebureaucraciesandmessyparliamentaryprocedures.(StubbsandWedel,2013)

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AJourneyinSearchofa

MethodI

(Uneven)Participations/(Scattered)Observations(activism-research-consultancy)

Fragmentaryinterviewsandtextsoveralongperiodoftimev.Specificreflectionsonaseriesofprojects/onecriticalevent

Looselyethnographic(netnography;auto;reflexive;analytical;theoretically-informed;multi-sited;multi-scalar,...)

Autoethnographies,thickdescriptionandextendedvignettes

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AJourneyinSearchofa

MethodII Aestheticandevocativethickdescriptionsofpersonalandinterpersonalexperiencethroughfacetsofstorytelling(e.g.characterandplotdevelopment),showingandtelling,andalterations

ofauthorialvoice(Ellisetal,2011). Seriesofplausibleprovocationsnotverifiableconclusions

Translationfromconsultancytocriticalresearch Reflexivitymatters:notfromaboveorfromnowhere(Marcus,1995) Purismdoesnt:preferenceforbendingandblendingmethods(LendvaiandStubbs,2006)

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SituatingSouthEast

EuropeShifting,contestedandunfinishedsocialandpoliticalconstruct;asetofmulti-actor,multi-level,multi-scalarprocessesconsistingofcomplexandvariablegeometriesof

interlockingnetworks Post-imperialsemi-periphery:catchuporresistintegrationintothecore

Externally-drivenpeace-andstate-buildingalongsidemini-states,contestedsovereigntiesandparallelpowernetworks

Re-scalingandprojectisationincrowdedplaygrounds

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Case1:ReformingSocialWelfareSystems

inBosnia-Herzegovinaandbeyond DFID-WorldBankstrategicreformpartnerships,implementedbyBSALandIBHIBiH,Serbia/complexconsultancyarrangementsCro,Kos

BiH:Pilotprojectsandtheinstrumentalisationofreformagendas->StrategydevelopmentandcreationofDEP

Kosovo:USAIDlock-inpriortolocalpoliticalinvolvementandbargaining

Croatia:shiftfromWorldBanktoEUconditionalitiesimportanceofchangeagents

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Case2:UNICEFsTravellingTechnicism:

childcaresystemreforminSEEurope

Dominantdiscourses:Progressunbound;Supporttochildreninfamillies;Cosyinter-agencyconsensus;Practicerestingonuntranslatedkeywords

Depoliticisedtechnicaluniversalismregardlessofconjuncturesystemsvhumanapproach

Timeandsuccessaskeyconstructs Silencing:users,workers,policymakersinlaggingstates

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Conclusions

Front-stageperformancesandbackstagemaneouvresbuildimpressions,reputations,charismaticauthority

Reformsrarelyrootedbutmoreoftenroutedthroughmobile,unpredictableprocessesoftranslationandassemblage

Fromflexibleagencytoflexibleagencification Intermediaries/flexactorsdisturbtheboundariesbetweenthetechnicalandthepolitical

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Concerns

Autoethnography:HowdifferentforcesarecondensedinspecificlocationsNOThowdifferentsites,scalesandspacesarearticulated

Importanceofresistance,recalcitranceandironicsubversion

Studyingtheemotionalandcognitivedimensionsofpolicy(Newman)

Revisiting,re-transcribingandre-assembling Reflexivity,processtrackingandreflexivetranslation