What price evidence? The ethics of office and the ethics of social science in British cultural policy

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the use of evidence for government decision-making using ethnographically informed data from the lived experiences of those involved in British cultural policy. It does this in order to engage and extend work that has sought to defend bureaucratic forms of activity. The paper offers an empirical case study of how the civil servants’ ethic of office [DuGay, P. (2008) ‘Max weber and the moral economy of office’, Journal of Cultural Economy, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 129–144] is reinforced by the identity of the social scientist. The use of social science in policy advice is a moment where the bureaucrats are able to distance themselves from political decision-making, thus reasserting an important aspect of civil service practice and identity. However, as the latter part of the article illustrates, the dynamics of cultural policy-making, in particular the use of economics, situate the role of social science as paradoxical. It is both supportive and corrosive of the bureaucratic ethic. This paradox is the basis for a critical perspective on the ethic of office as deployed in contemporary government.

KEYWORDS:

• Bureaucracy
• culture
• civil service
• government
• cultural policy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Dave O'Brien is a senior lecturer in cultural policy at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He has worked on several Connected Communities projects, exploring early career researchers’ experiences, dementia and imagination and the creative economy. His most recent books are Cultural Policy, published by Routledge, and After Urban Regeneration, published by Policy Press.

Notes

1. The full dataset, alongside a more general discussion of contemporary public policy practices is discussed in O'Brien (forthcoming 2016).