Change from Within the Corridors of Power: A Reflective Essay of a Sociologist in Government

Introduction

As a Canadian sociologist who has worked both in the academy and in government in Newfoundland and Labrador, my purpose in this essay is three-fold: (1) to offer some theoretical and methodological observations, based on my practical experiences, about the nature of politics and how governments work; (2) to show how the application of the sociological imagination has led to some important changes in governance in Newfoundland and Labrador; and, (3) to advocate for greater involvement of sociologists and the application of the sociological imagination within the corridors of power in this country.

Sociologists in North America have been less involved in government than have other social scientists, especially economists and political scientists.¹ Nevertheless, several of our colleagues have been involved in many ways in trying to effect progressive change in Canadian society (Carroll et al, 1992; McFarlane, 1992). For the Newfoundland and Labrador case specifically, Barbara Neis has examined various ways in which sociologists and anthropologists have been involved in what she calls "the uneasy marriage of academic and policy work" in "a rich and multi-faceted thirty-year history of different approaches to policy work organized through a variety of institutional structures" ranging from political activism to private sector consulting (1992: 321).

There is a continuum of involvement of sociologists in practical affairs and policy work, ranging from purely academic studies through advocacy and social movements to formal advisory roles, participation in commissions and task-forces, to public service appointments and elections to political office. To put the subsequent analyses in context, I will briefly summarize my own involvement along this continuum. I started out as a purely academic researcher and writer, with my early work in economic sociology focusing on real estate agents in Montreal and oilmen in Calgary (House, 1974, 1977a, 1977b, 1980). After returning to my native province of Newfoundland and Labrador in the mid-1970s, I became more interested in policy issues related to social and economic development. In writing about oil and Newfoundland, I offered a number of recommendations for how the province might maximize its benefits from this new resource industry (1985); and, as Research Director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research, initiated a new series of ISER Research and Policy Papers whereby social scientists at Memorial University commented on several important policy matters (Storey, 1994).

My first opportunity for more direct involvement in government came in 1985 when I was asked by then Premier Brian Peckford to chair a provincial Royal Commission on Employment and Unemployment. The Commission was given a wide-ranging mandate and produced a comprehensive report called Building on Our Strengths (1986).

My second foray into government followed the provincial election of 1989, when I was invited by the new Premier, Clyde Wells, to chair an economic development agency called the Economic Recovery Commission (ERC). As Chair of the ERC, I was considered by those "in the system" (discussed below) to be in a Deputy Minister-equivalent position. From 1994 to 1995, I was also the provincial co-chair of a federal/provincial Task Force on Community Economic Development (1995). Brian Tobin closed down the Commission when he became Premier in 1996 and I returned to my role as an academic sociologist at Memorial.

More recently, since this essay was first drafted, I have accepted another secondment to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador as Deputy Minister of the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development under the new Premier, Danny Williams. Although most of the material in this essay relates to the earlier experiences, I have added a few comments based on observations related to my current position.

Some Reflections on Methodology and Epistemology

The research that I carried out early in my career was mainly through participant observation, personal interviews and survey research. While such systematic...