What’s the Problem Represented to be (WPR) in an analytical framework, developed by Carol Bacchi, which starts with the premise that what we propose to do about something, tells us what we think needs to change, and therefore tells us what we render to be problematic. Problems are not out there to be discovered, they are constructed when we propose to change something, a process known as problematisation. According to Carol Bacchi, the word problem is; at best, meaningless; and at worst, positively dangerous. Problematisations cannot be separated from political processes, and Carrol Bacchi proposes that the word problem should be reigned in, and replaced by the word problematisation.
There are six (6) questions that form part of a WPR analysis, followed by a seventh step, which is applying these questions to your own problematisations:
- Question 1: What is the problem represented to be in a specific policy or policy proposal?
- Question 2: What presuppositions or assumptions (conceptual logics) underlie this representation of the ‘problem’ (problem representation)?
- Question 3: How has this representation of the ‘problem’ come about?
- Question 4: What is left unproblematic in this problem representation? Where are the silences? Can the problem be conceptualised differently?
- Question 5: What effects are produced by this representation of the ‘problem’?
- Question 6: How and where has this representation of the problem been produced, disseminated, and defended? How has it been and/or or how can it be disrupted or replaced?
- Step 7: Apply this list of questions to your own problem representations.
This demonstrates a commitment to reflexivity, and considering what presuppositions and assumptions make your own problematisations and proposals comprehensible.
More information about What’s the Problem Represented to be (WPR) is available at https://www.carolbacchi.com.