Welcome to the WPR Network!
Hello and welcome to the #WPRnetwork - an international network of scholars from a broad range of disciplines who are using Carol Bacchi's "What's the Problem Represented to be?" (WPR) approach to policy analysis. Here you can find information about past events, resources and links which may be of interest.
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UPCOMING EVENTS:
WPR Panel, International Conference on Public Policy, Chang Mai 2025
A panel on WPR will be held at the International Conference on Public Policy in Chiang Mai, Thailand, July 2025. The panel is entitled: ‘Using post-structural policy analysis to disrupt knowledge and power hierarchies’. The panel has been organised by Rebecca Muir (Queen Mary, University of London), Merissa Hickman (University of Leicester) and Laura Bea (University of Southampton). In person or online papers will be considered. Check out this link for more information.
The following ECPR (European Consortium on Political Research) panel may be of interest to WPR scholars:
ECPR Panel: In the name of security: Problematising new threats and deconstructing the resilience imperative
This panel orientation is critical policy analysis with the idea of problematizing security, threats, and the imperative for increased resilience and related topics. 26 to 29 August at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Link to more information. The panel organisers are looking for 500 word abstracts from prospective participants by 15 December 2024. Please contact Oscar Larsson (oscar.lasson@fhs.se) or Maria Prevezianou (maria.prevezianou@fhs.se) at the Swedish Defence University for more information.
PREVIOUS EVENTS:
WPR SYMPOSIUM ON CRITICAL POLICY STUDIES – EXPLORING THE PREMISES AND POLITICS OF CAROL BACCHI’S WPR APPROACH
17-18 AUGUST 2022, KARLSTAD UNIVERSITY, SWEDEN
The Symposium was hosted by the research group Critical Studies on Power and Politics (led by Professor Malin Rönnblom) at the Department of Political, Historical, Religious and Cultural Studies, Karlstad University and funded by the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. The main objective of the Symposium was to open channels of communication among researchers engaged with the WPR approach, bring to light the types of analyses being produced and to encourage further collaboration among WPR scholars.
The Book of Abstracts gives an indication of the range of WPR scholarship being carried out worldwide. The Conference Program included keynotes from Professor Emerita Carol Bacchi, University of Adelaide and Professor Elisabeth Prügl, The Graduate Institute, Geneva, as well as a Workshop delivered by Dave Bell from the Scottish Policy and Research Exchange and Laura Bea from the UK's Universities Policy Engagement Network.
In Carol Bacchi's keynote, "The WPR approach: Key premises and new developments," Carol reflects on the evolution of the approach over the years.
Resources from the Symposium ‘Kick-Off’ in 2021
A ‘Kick-Off’ event was held on 13 October 2021 and attended by some 50 scholars from around the world. The purpose of the kick-off was to discuss themes for the Symposium and become acquainted with others interested in WPR. Here are the links to:
For any questions on the content of the symposium, please contact Professor Malin Rönnblom, malin.ronnblom@kau.se.
In the menu to the right (under "Documents") you can also find a Select Reference List on WPR applications (as well as a supplement), compiled by Carol Bacchi and Anne Wilson. If you are aware of WPR applications that ought to be on the list, please send the details and a pdf (if possible) to: carol.bacchi@adelaide.edu.au
More information on the WPR approach can be found at Carol Bacchi’s webpage: