
Mr Francisco Palma Carvajal
BA, BA, MSc, MSc, PhD
Expertise
Social Policy lecturer studying the politics of policymaking, citizen participation, and policymaking changes under neoliberal governance. Extensive experience in education policy and civil society participation in policy.
Current positions
Senior Lecturer
School for Policy Studies
Contact
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Biography
I came to the School of Policy Studies to undertake my PhD, which I completed in 2015. Since then, I have worked as a lecturer on various undergraduate and postgraduate units, including 'Collective Action and Policy Change', 'Education Policy in an International Context' and 'Researching Public Policy'.
I have had the privilege of supervising a considerable number of undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations, as well as working closely with students as a personal tutor. I have also led various undergraduate programmes at the School, including the Quantitative Research Methods, the Study Abroad, and more recently the Social Policy Programmes.
I am currently working on a research project funded by the Chilean Research Council. In this study, I explore how public policy is understood by leading intellectuals and practitioners in Chile, paying particular attention to the ways in which dominant ideas serve to create and recreate the boundaries of the field.
Research interests
My research focuses on the politics of policymaking, citizen participation in policy processes, and changes to policymaking under neoliberal governance. My specific interests lie in education policy, socio-environmental protection and civil society participation in policymaking processes. As a critical policy scholar, my research pays special attention to issues of power, the role of contexts and the local knowledges held by people in their interaction with policies.
I have recently been awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Chilean Research Council. In this research, I explore how public policy, as an interdisciplinary field, is understood by leading intellectuals and practitioners in Chile. To study this, I am using an interpretive policy analysis approach, combining it with Pierre Bourdieu's notion of 'field' to understand how dominant ideas create and recreate the boundaries of the field.
Publications
Selected publications
25/10/2022From above or from below?
Journal of Educational Administration and History
Advocacy NGOs and the Neoliberal Pacification of the Demands of the Street
Advocacy NGOs and the Neoliberal Pacification of the Demands of the Street
Advocacy NGOs and the neoliberal manufacture of the street voice
Journal of Education Policy
Advocacy NGOs in Chilean education policy-making: spaces of resistance or agencies fostering neoliberalism?
Critical Policy Discourse Analysis
Recent publications
25/10/2022From above or from below?
Journal of Educational Administration and History
Advocacy NGOs and the neoliberal manufacture of the street voice
Journal of Education Policy
Advocacy NGOs and the Neoliberal Pacification of the Demands of the Street
Advocacy NGOs and the Neoliberal Pacification of the Demands of the Street
Advocacy NGOs in Chilean education policy-making: spaces of resistance or agencies fostering neoliberalism?
Critical Policy Discourse Analysis
Oportunidades y desafíos del teatro aplicado en el aprendizaje de la convivencia escolar: reconociendo la experiencia de los estudiantes
Persona Y Sociedad
Thesis
Teaching
I am the unit convenor for the units 'Collective Action and Policy Change' and 'Education Policy in International Perspective', at the Undergraduate in Social Policy. I am also a lecturer in the 'Researching Public Policy' unit on the Master's in Public Policy.
My teaching practice is driven by the values of respect and participation, and by recognising the value of students’ experiences and local knowledge. In 2024, I was shortlisted as one of the three finalists for the “Inspiring and Innovative Teaching Award” in the Bristol Teaching Awards.