Studying Problematizations: The Value of Carol Bacchi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to be?’ (WPR) Methodology for IR

Abstract

Critical approaches to IR have often been criticized for lacking methodological rigour. Especially, authors informed by the works of Michel Foucault have faced challenges to justify their methodology, given that Foucault did not provide scholars with a methodological blueprint. This article argues that Carol Bacchi’s ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ (WPR) approach provides a robust critical methodology for policy analysis. WPR is a method that facilitates the critical examination of public policies to analyse ‘how the “problem” is represented within them and to subject this problem representation to critical scrutiny’ (Bacchi, 2012b). This way of questioning differs from other forms of policy analysis in that it shifts the focus of analysis from policy as a ‘problem-solving’ exercise towards seeing policy as an act which is constructive of ‘problems’. Policies are therefore not analysed from a problem-solving perspective, but from a problem-questioning perspective. By making the ‘problem’ itself the focus of analysis, it becomes possible to uncover the political, epistemological and historical contexts which are constitutive of the problem representation. I demonstrate the value of this approach by subjecting the Cure Violence Global NGO to a WPR analysis.

Free yet? Progress, setbacks, tensions and the potential futures of South Africa’s free higher education policy: A 6 year "WPR" critical review

“…Bacchi's WPR framework presents a robust methodology for policy analysis that incorporates multiple theoretical and multidisciplinary perspectives (Riemann 2023). The WPR framework is based on the understanding that policy problems are socially constructed and arise in specific policy spaces (Payne 2014).…”

The representation of indigenous children in policies in Indonesia

“…The WPR approach has been used for various social policy analyses, including for children's and adolescent policies (see, for example, Bills & Howard, 2017; Cordeiro & Mello, 2020; Komai, 2021; Skovhus & Thomsen, 2017; Tawell & Mccluskey, 2021; Wismayanti et al., 2021). This approach provides a critical policy analysis method consisting of seven interrelated forms of questioning and analysis (Bacchi & Goodwin, 2016; Riemann, 2023). According to Bacchi and Goodwin (p. 20, 2016), the questions and steps are as follows: What's the “problem” represented to be in a specific policy? What presuppositions or assumptions underlie this representation of the “problem”? How has this representation of the “problem” come about? What is left unproblematic in this problem representation?…”

“…The WPR approach has been used for various social policy analyses, including for children's and adolescent policies (see, for example, Bills & Howard, 2017;Cordeiro & Mello, 2020;Komai, 2021;Skovhus & Thomsen, 2017;Tawell & Mccluskey, 2021;Wismayanti et al, 2021). This approach provides a critical policy analysis method consisting of seven interrelated forms of questioning and analysis (Bacchi & Goodwin, 2016;Riemann, 2023). According to Bacchi and Goodwin (p. 20, 2016), the questions and steps are as follows:…”

This World and the “Other”: Muslim Identity and Politics on the Indo-Bangladesh Border

“…In colonial India, one such category is the Muslim, or "Muhammadan." Established by the Parliament of the United Kingdom with the passing of the 1909 Indian Councils Act, the Muslim electorate was created to address a Liberal "policy problem" (Bacchi, 2009;Riemann, 2023) where the objective was to help the downtrodden Muslims and "guide the natives on the paths of progress" (Cross, 1922: 6). Understood as a political "interest" with the creation of the Muslim electorate, the "Muslim" was thus redefined as a political rather than a religious identity.…”

“…As described by Viramontes (2022: 46): “the colonial epistemic framework is not simply a set of assumptions that make possible the identification of pre-existing forms of knowledge practices, but they are rather normative criteria that constitute knowledge.” Among these colonial frameworks of representation are categories of essentialized difference between the “Self” and the “Other.” In colonial India, one such category is the Muslim, or “Muhammadan.” Established by the Parliament of the United Kingdom with the passing of the 1909 Indian Councils Act, the Muslim electorate was created to address a Liberal “policy problem” (Bacchi, 2009; 2012; Riemann, 2023) where the objective was to help the downtrodden Muslims and “guide the natives on the paths of progress” (Cross, 1922: 6). Understood as a political “interest” with the creation of the Muslim electorate, the “Muslim” was thus redefined as a political rather than a religious identity.…”