Professionalità antropologica ed etnografia delle politiche pubbliche. Sfide quotidiane, nuove circolarità e legami inattesi

Based on a multisited fieldwork conducted in both Italy and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the paper investigates the role played by anthropological engagement in exploring the “social life” of international projects and the daily practices of aid institutions. Moving beyond the negative, critical stance that has been so dominant in the past, the author offers an ethnographic insight of how decentralized cooperation discourses, such as “partnership”, “participation” and “civil society”, are concretely translated into development practices. The author also writes about her experience as professional appraiser within the project and allows us to discuss how applied work may contribute in breaking down the “black box” of aid processes, paving the way for a more reflexive and ethnographically nuanced approach to the study of everyday institutional practices and action strategies shaping the development arena.