This paper explores the role of practices in public service implementation in collaborative contexts.
Practices may be defined as, ‘specific configurations of action, norms and knowledge’, actions which are ‘both social and material’ in that their meaning is ‘socially derived: practices are very often carried out with others, and by reference to norms and standards that others, both participant and non-participant, will recognise’ (Freeman, Griggs, & Boaz, 2011)2011:128). That is to say they require individual agency and action but they are not reducible to individual agency and action. They are relevant to discussions of public service implementation, as implementation is constituted (at least in part) of and by practices. However studies of public service implementation do not consider practices and certainly do not place them at the centre of analysis. This paper will focus on implementation from the perspective of practice.
It is now commonplace to note that public policy and public services are heavily dependent on collaboration; to determine policy priorities, design policy, secure implementation, and to evaluate outcomes. It is less commonly noted that practices are essential constituents of collaboration, as so much of what is achieved in collaboration requires action, or interaction, between individuals, or between human and non-human actants in particular social contexts.
So if practices are present and possibly vital to both implementation and collaboration how do they manifest themselves in public service examples of collaborative implementation, what are the implications for theory (of implementation and/or collaboration) and what kinds of capabilities are associated with effective practice?
This paper explores these questions with reference to existing cases of collaborative implementation in public services. It begins by reviewing theories of practice with a view to identifying those that focus on ‘practices’ and their constituent elements.
It then considers the multiple ways in which practices are considered – as instrumental actions, as embodied performances, as carriers of political and emotional meaning.
The paper then draws on these theoretical insights to examine practices in practice. It focuses on a range of empirical examples of collaborative implementation to delineate practices and to assess their constitution in different public service arenas from the local to the global. It works through different examples to explore how practices, identity and performance interact and inform each other, and the implications of this for public service capability.
