Policy, Research Design and the Socially Situated Researcher

During the last decade, geographers have called for more policy-centric geographic research aimed at social change (Peck, 1999; Massey, 2000, 2001, 2002; Martin, 2001a, b; 2002; Dorling and Shaw, 2002; Valentine, 2005; Ward, 2005; See the debate originally aired in Transactions, 1999).1 The same authors ask: Why, given the perspective geographers bring to social issues, are they so rarely engaged in policy discourses (Glasmeier, 2006, 2007)? Some authors argue the lack of engagement by geographers is due to the banality of most policy research, for example, planning activities. Others suggest the academic reward system devalues policy research and, in fact, penalizes faculty who do it. Still others suggest policy research ...