Bureaucratic Feelings by Ed Kiely: upcoming Welfare Futures Seminar
Ed Kiely will present at our upcoming Welfare Futures seminar. On March 4th, they will talk about "Bureaucratic Feelings: Knowledge production, affective regulation and the administration of austerity." In this talk Kiely investigates the role of affect in the planning and delivery of public services.
Drawing on extensive fieldwork within UK local government and mental health services, Ed Kiely's talk investigates how bureaucrats navigated the tensions between care provision and austerity measures during a period of severe budget cuts. Between 2010 and 2019, local government revenues were slashed by £11.4 billion – an 18 percent reduction. Through their research within one county council, they examine two key institutional mechanisms that emerged: the production of knowledge systems structurally unable to recognize austerity's harmful impacts, and the cultivation of 'austerity optimism' – a narrative suggesting that funding cuts actually benefited service users. Kiely's analysis engages with contemporary literature on bureaucratic violence, strategic ignorance, the politics of unfeeling, and the postcolonial welfare state to understand these institutionalized modes of unseeing.
Practical information
What
Ed Kiely, “Bureaucratic Feelings: Knowledge production, affective regulation and the administration of austerity”
When
4 March, 15.30-17.00, followed by drinks at CREA Café.
Where
REC B5.12, Common Room Anthropology (Roeterseiland, B-building, 5th floor)
If you are not able to join in person, you can also follow the talk and discussion via the live stream.
Welfare Futures Seminar Upcoming Events
April 7: Ruth Prince exploring social protection for health costs in Kenya
May 6: TBD
June 6: Anouk de Koning's inaugural lecture as professor of Power, Politics and the State
Welfare Futures seminar series
The Welfare Futures seminar series is hosted by the Prototyping Welfare and Crafting Resilience projects, embedded in the Anthropology department of the University of Amsterdam. With talks every 4 weeks, it seeks to create a lively space for debate and bring together an interdisciplinary ethnographic community engaged in thinking about transforming welfare landscapes in Europe and beyond.