REVIEWER MEETS REVIEWED

SEMINAR SERIES AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM’S ANTHROPOLOGY LIBRARY AND RESEARCH CENTRE

The House of Commons: an Anthropology of MPs at Work

Thursday 21 April at 10.00 am (tea & coffee served from 9.30 am)

Anthropology Library and Research Centre, British Museum

THIS IS A FREE EVENT

The British Museum’s Anthropology Library and Research Centre, in conjunction with the Royal Anthropological Institute, is pleased to present the fourth seminar in the 2015-16 series of ‘Reviewer meets Reviewed’, a discussion between Professor Emma Crewe, author of The House of Commons: an Anthropology of MPs at Work, and Dr James Staples, who reviewed the book for the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.

The book examines the work of Members of Parliament, providing unique insights into the actual lives and working relationships of parliamentarians. The antagonistic facade of politics irritates the public who tend to be unaware that, backstage, democracy relies on MPs consulting, compromising and cooperating across  political parties far more than is publicly admitted. Based on unprecedented access and two years of interviews and research in the Palace of Westminster and MPs’ constituencies, the book challenges the existing scholarship on political institutions and party politics. Moving beyond the narrow confines of rational choice theory and new institutionalism, Crewe presents  a radical alternative to the study of British politics by demonstrating that all its processes hinge on culture, ritual and social relations.

Bookings/enquiries: Ted Goodliffe ( TGoodliffe@britishmuseum.org)