Constitutive invisibility: Exploring the work of staff advisers in political position-making

Abstract

Although it is broadly acknowledged that democratic politics should operate through the public competition of binding positions, the careful development of these positions is commonly neglected. Providing ethnographic analysis of the work of staff advisers in parliamentary groups, the paper explores the invisible work invested into these competing positions. We argue that the invisibilization of work serves to accomplish a central tenet of democratic political discourse: the demonstration of resonance between constituents and elected politicians. The latter may be assisted by – but must not depend on – non-elected staff. Against this ‘sacred’ premise of representative democracy, the paper shows that and how political positions are based on invisible work and the work of invisibilizing. Building on laboratory and workplace studies, we specify the shape and function of invisibility by contrasting studies on invisible work in the natural sciences, in case law, and in party politics. In these instances, invisible work serves different discursive objects-in-formation: scientific facts, legal cases, and binding positions. Understanding invisible work, thus, leads us to consider different constitutive relevancies. In turn, these serve to specify established concepts in STS, such as ‘controversy,’ to better distinguish the day-to-day conduct of natural science from that of politics or law.

Material Practices of Ethnographic Presence

“…My reflexive analysis of the material making of ethnographic presence builds on empirical data from three different ethnographic studies on the use of digital media in work. 2 The field sites include a financial trading room (Laube 2017, 2019), a call-center office (Egger de Campo and Laube 2008), and a political party’s network of back offices in parliament (Laube 2020; Laube, Schank, and Scheffer 2020). The studies had very different starting points regarding my presence as an observant participant.…”

“…Furthermore, the aforementioned MP offered me to accompany him and his staff on a road tour across the country. This offer allowed me to closely observe the invisible work of political assistants and advisers across multiple sites (Laube et al 2020). Participants' contributions in discovering new analytical aspects and extending the fieldwork to additional sites would not have been possible without embodying ethnographic methods in material ways accessible to them.…”

Materializations through political work

“…Pointing out the conceptual connection between science and politics is neither new nor original. Laboratory studies took root with what is now a mantra in STS: ‘Science is politics by other means’ (Callon et al, 1986: 4; Laube et al, 2020). The reverse also holds true.…”

“…In addition to the physical infrastructure, the MP’s office plays a crucial role in the balancing of concern (Laube et al, 2020). The office, more than any other human or non-human actor, acts as the core unit of the parliamentary work process.…”

“…The political game is probably the most familiar political work mode because it is on display in most public political debates. In what way is the political opponent’s ‘position’ (Laube et al, 2020) used to allow an idea to materialize? An excerpt from a plenary debate at the city level helps to illustrate this dynamic: The agenda contains a motion proposed by Party A on a pressing issue: The state has been called on to buy a big corporation that has recently gone bankrupt.…”