Public Administration and Epistemology: Experience, Power, and Agency

Scholars and professionals in management often engage in scholarship focused on their specific niche without knowing how it relates to other research streams. Sementelli argues that understanding concepts of power, agency, and experience can provide tools to orient management theories and practices relative to one another. This book focuses on public administration as a special case of critical management research and examines the complexity of experiences using Karl Jaspers as a basis. The sandbox that emerges can be used as a way to organize and orient management thought, particularly in the public sector, and contributes to administrative thought and applied inquiry into philosophy.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 196 pages
Publication date: 01 August 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Knowledge does not occur in isolation, yet scholars and other professionals often engage in management scholarship focused on their specific niche without considering how their work might connect with other research streams. This lack of communication between different disciplines, including management, further exacerbates the issue. If we were able to bridge these communication gaps, scholars, and practitioners could gain a deeper understanding of each other, informed by their unique experiences.

Sementelli suggests that understanding concepts of power, agency, and experience can provide valuable tools to orient management theories and practices relative to each other. By framing a discussion of ontology and how knowledge emerges from it using critical management thought, we can develop an orienting sandbox that serves both practical and intellectual purposes. This sandbox enables us to communicate our organizational priorities and reveal the underlying reasons and areas of inquiry.

This monograph specifically focuses on public administration as a special case of critical management research. Additionally, the book examines the complexity of experiences (of being) using Karl Jaspers as a basis. The sandbox that emerges from this analysis can be used as a way to organize and orient management thought, particularly in the public sector. It contributes to administrative thought and applied inquiry into philosophy, making it of interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of critical management studies, organizational studies, and public administration.

Weight: 380g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367689414