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Etnográfica

 ISSN 0873-6561

MITCHELL, Jon P.. Anthropologists behaving badly? Impact and the politics of evaluation in an era of accountability. []. , 18, 2, pp.275-297. ISSN 0873-6561.

^len^aThis paper discusses the move within UK social science funding to use non-academic ‘impact’ as a measure of quality and success for social research. It suggests that behind this move are a set of unspoken assumptions about what constitutes ‘good’ and ‘bad’ impact, and the paper seeks to problematize these. By way of provocation, it presents three classic cases of anthropological research, in which the impact of anthropologists on the societies in which they worked was at worst reprehensible, and at best controversial. These controversies - Darkness in El Dorado, the Human Terrain System and Fields of Wheat, Hills of Blood - are used to demonstrate the difficulty with which we can assess impacts as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, and the problems with attempting to do so.^lpt^aO artigo analisa como o financiamento das ciências sociais no Reino Unido passou a usar o “impacto” não académico como indicador da qualidade e do êxito da investigação social. O autor sugere que por detrás desta mudança está um conjunto de pressupostos silenciados sobre o que constitui o “bom” e o “mau” impacto, procurando problematizá-los. De modo provocatório, são apresentados três casos clássicos e controversos na antropologia, nos quais o impacto dos antropólogos sobre as sociedades em que trabalharam foi, na pior das hipóteses, repreensível, e na melhor, discutível. Estes casos - as controvérsias em torno de Darkness in El Dorado, o Human Terrain System e Fields of Wheat, Hills of Blood - são usados para demonstrar a dificuldade de avaliar o impacto como “bom” ou “mau” e os problemas enfrentados quando se tenta fazê-lo.

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