Author(s)

Carol Bacchi

University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.

This paper introduces the theoretical concept, problematization, as it is developed in Foucauldian-inspired poststructural analysis. The objective is two-fold: first, to show how a study of problematizations politicizes taken-for-granted “truths”; and second, to illustrate how this analytic approach opens up novel ways of approaching the study of public policy, politics and comparative politics. The study of problematizations, it suggests, directs attention to the heterogenous strategic relations – the politics – that shape lives. It simultaneously alerts researchers to their unavoidable participation in these relations, opening up a much-needed conversation about the role of theory in politics.

Problematization; Poststructuralism; Foucault; Public Policy; Comparative Politics; Ethics

Bacchi, C. (2012) Why Study Problematizations? Making Politics Visible. Open Journal of Political Science, 2, 1-8. doi: 10.4236/ojps.2012.21001.