What's the Problem Represented to Be?

Originally developed as a mode of critical policy analysis, ‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be?’: A New Thinking Paradigm extends the thinking behind the innovative ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ (WPR) approach to new areas of investigation. It poses a challenge to problem-solving as the...

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Main Author: Bacchi, Carol | https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8555-5408
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/110374
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author Bacchi, Carol | https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8555-5408
author_browse Bacchi, Carol | https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8555-5408
author_facet Bacchi, Carol | https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8555-5408
author_sort Bacchi, Carol | https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8555-5408
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Originally developed as a mode of critical policy analysis, ‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be?’: A New Thinking Paradigm extends the thinking behind the innovative ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ (WPR) approach to new areas of investigation. It poses a challenge to problem-solving as the dominant way of thinking about human existence and human endeavours and offers a fresh alternative that turns attention to the contours of designated ‘problems’. By focusing on proposed ‘solutions’ to conditions labelled ‘problems’, the WPR approach produces a dynamic form of analysis and critique targeting how ‘problems’ are represented. This critical analytic posture is extended from ‘problems’ to a wide range of putative conditions, including ‘indeterminate situations’, ‘issues’, ‘controversies’ and ‘matters of concern’. In this new thinking paradigm, items, such as buildings and maps, are analysed as proposals for change and hence as problematisations, with important political implications. The book brings together the theoretical resources underpinning the WPR approach and considers important methodological ramifications. A table of WPR questions incorporates changes to the approach signalled in the book. This book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students, early career researchers and academics in a wide range of fields, including public policy, education, law, international relations and disability, Indigenous and feminists' studies.
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language eng
publishDate 2026
publishDateRange 2026
publishDateSort 2026
publisher Taylor & Francis
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1729272026-06-03T08:01:04Z What's the Problem Represented to Be? Bacchi, Carol | https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8555-5408 WPR Policy Problematization Discourse Governmentality Subjectivity Practices New-thinking paradigm Problems Problem-solving thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government::JPQB Central / national / federal government policies thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology::JHBC Social research and statistics Originally developed as a mode of critical policy analysis, ‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be?’: A New Thinking Paradigm extends the thinking behind the innovative ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ (WPR) approach to new areas of investigation. It poses a challenge to problem-solving as the dominant way of thinking about human existence and human endeavours and offers a fresh alternative that turns attention to the contours of designated ‘problems’. By focusing on proposed ‘solutions’ to conditions labelled ‘problems’, the WPR approach produces a dynamic form of analysis and critique targeting how ‘problems’ are represented. This critical analytic posture is extended from ‘problems’ to a wide range of putative conditions, including ‘indeterminate situations’, ‘issues’, ‘controversies’ and ‘matters of concern’. In this new thinking paradigm, items, such as buildings and maps, are analysed as proposals for change and hence as problematisations, with important political implications. The book brings together the theoretical resources underpinning the WPR approach and considers important methodological ramifications. A table of WPR questions incorporates changes to the approach signalled in the book. This book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students, early career researchers and academics in a wide range of fields, including public policy, education, law, international relations and disability, Indigenous and feminists' studies. 2026-03-01T05:22:01Z 2026-03-01T05:22:01Z 2026-02-28T20:24:55Z 2025 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/110374 9781032678382 9781032678375 9781032678368 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/172927 eng open access Taylor & Francis Routledge 10.4324/9781032678382 10.4324/9781032678382 fa69b019-f4ee-4979-8d42-c6b6c476b5f0 9781032678382 9781032678375 9781032678368 Routledge 1 London open access
spellingShingle WPR
Policy
Problematization
Discourse
Governmentality
Subjectivity
Practices
New-thinking paradigm
Problems
Problem-solving
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government::JPQB Central / national / federal government policies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology::JHBC Social research and statistics
Bacchi, Carol | https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8555-5408
What's the Problem Represented to Be?
title What's the Problem Represented to Be?
title_full What's the Problem Represented to Be?
title_fullStr What's the Problem Represented to Be?
title_full_unstemmed What's the Problem Represented to Be?
title_short What's the Problem Represented to Be?
title_sort what s the problem represented to be
topic WPR
Policy
Problematization
Discourse
Governmentality
Subjectivity
Practices
New-thinking paradigm
Problems
Problem-solving
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government::JPQB Central / national / federal government policies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology::JHBC Social research and statistics
topic_facet WPR
Policy
Problematization
Discourse
Governmentality
Subjectivity
Practices
New-thinking paradigm
Problems
Problem-solving
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government::JPQB Central / national / federal government policies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology::JHBC Social research and statistics
url https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/110374
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