Public policy under debate: contributions from anthropology and sociology of translation

Abstract

In this article we propose to consider the contributions of the anthropological approach and the sociology of translation to the study of public policy. Based on a review of the literature published in Latin America over the last two decades, we have found that although each of these perspectives is framed by particular conceptual references and methodological strategies, both question the view of policy as a technical and rational instrument to solve problems. Likewise, by considering the network of human and non-human entities, institutions, knowledge, values, practices and artifacts involved in the construction of public policies, these approaches allow us to recognize the contested and unfinished nature of such policies, while at the same time problematizing the view of the “success” or “failure” of programs as the temporary product of unstable associations.