Making sense of 'evidence': Notes on the discursive politics of research and pro-poor policy making
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Date
2012-09
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape
Abstract
This paper explores some of the assumptions underlying ‘evidence based’ approaches to poverty reduction
impact assessment. It argues that the discourse of Evidence-Based Policy (EBP) offers poor guidance to
those who seek to ensure that social policy making is informed by the findings of social science. EBP
discourse relies on a technocratic, linear understanding of the policy making process and on a naïve
empiricist understanding of the role of evidence. This renders it unable to engage with the role of the
underlying discursive frameworks and paradigms that render evidence meaningful and invest it with
consequence: EBP discourse does not help us understand either how policy changes, or what is at stake in
dialogue across the ‘research-policy divide’. Rather than simply focusing on evidence, approaches to policy
change need to focus on how evidence is used in the politically loaded and ideologically compelling ‘policy
narratives’ that contest rival policy frameworks. The paper considers an example from the South African
context – the shift to the ‘two economies’ framework and the policy interventions associated with ASGISA –
and explores the implications for approaches to research more attuned to the realities of the policymaking
process. It concludes with a discussion of the implications for social researchers and policy makers.
Description
Keywords
Evidence-based policy, Poverty reduction, Impact assessment, Two economies framework, Discourse analysis
Citation
Du Toit A (2012) 'Making sense of "evidence": Notes on the discursive politics of research and pro-poor policy making', Working Paper 21. PLAAS, UWC: Bellville.