Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation › Academic
Description
In this lecture I will give an account of my personal approach of policy sociology. Policies are based on specific presuppositions of how humans can be influenced towards achieving particular goals. Taking a closer look, we see that these presuppositions that underlie policy theories and policy instruments often prove to be incorrect or remain implicit or uncorroborated. Consequently, policies often have unintended consequences because users or target groups act different than policy makers or scholars had hoped for or assumed. I assess the presuppositions underlying specific policy theories and policy instruments, how these presuppositions are connected to the motives and interests of the policy subjects, and what happens if the policy subjects do not act in accordance with the presuppositions underlying policy theories or policy instruments. I will give three illustrations of my research, which subsequently pertain to accident reporting, inspecting responsively and introducing choice and competition in education. I will end by reflecting on my personal approach to policy sociology.
Period
24 Oct 2019
Event title
Research Master Sociology and Social Research mini-conference