The Role of Performance in Enhancing the Effectiveness of Crystal and Spiritual Healing

In the arena of biomedical sciences, technical skills and expert judgment are at a premium, and the standardization and repeatability of an intervention is crucial to help determine, for example, the effectiveness of a new drug in a clinical trial. Crystal and spiritual healers are less rule-bound, and their playfulness with the systematized conventions and rituals of healing practice is more evident. In this article, based on in-depth ethnographic research, I highlight some of these themes in the context of contemporary crystal and spiritual healing practice at a center in northeast England. I show that the standardized models of measuring effectiveness are less appropriate in many healing contexts, partly due to the unrepeatability and limited standardization of each healing performance, but also due to the performative 'being-in-the-moment-ness' and intuitive sensibility that frames what healers count as evidence. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Exploring the Disconnect of Enterprise Policy Implementation:A case of enterprise policy in England

Previous studies have acknowledged the ineffectiveness of enterprise policy. However, the reasons for its ineffectiveness remain a matter for debate. This study examines the extent to which the ineffectiveness of enterprise policy can be attributed to the way it has been implemented. Interviews with central government policy-makers, Regional Development Agency staff and business development managers in local enterprise agencies during the Labour administration (2007–2010) revealed that the implementation process of enterprise policy initiatives is complex and confusing, with fragmented relationships between the actors involved. The abundance of enterprise policy initiatives being delivered at the time, the absence of clearly defined objectives, the limited emphasis on the delivery of business support and the lack of measurement and evaluation combined to create an unnecessarily complicated process of enterprise policy implementation which, in turn, reduced its effectiveness