Stumbling into Applied Anthropology: Collaborative Roles of Academic Researchers

Abstract

In the course of my research on the organizational histories of small high-technology firms in peripheral regions of the United Kingdom, I came into frequent contact with various small-business support organizations, including colleges of further education, innovation centers, enterprise trusts, enterprise zones, and outreach programs from university business schools. The reaction of these agencies to my inquiries ranged from outright hostility to enthusiastic invitations to collaborate in a variety of ways that I, an academic researcher and outsider, had not anticipated. This account is a confessional tale that catalogs those unanticipated collaborative roles. As with most confessional tales, it has a happy ending, with the realization that many opportunities for developing applied anthropology roles come even to the academic researcher.