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Theme-based book review: Instability and reconsideration
International Journal of Public Administration, Vol.44, pp.705-709
44
2020
Web of Science ID: WOS:000639346700008
Abstract
The practice of public service trudges ahead through a tempestuous moment in world history. The place of public administration has been pressured and constrained as it has at few times in history. Belief, anti-science resentment, populism, and authoritarianism have conspired in shocking ways that have threatened not just common sense, but lives. Political needs to advance narratives of betrayal and reconstruction (as noted by Kiely, 2020, for example) have frequently supplanted rational, sober scientific contemplation, and the possibility of more coherent, informed policy responses. There is a widening gulf in definitions of public transparency; the decline in trust of public institutions is worrisome and international in scope (Roelofs, 2019). Global threats have been met with helpless rage and exclusionary narratives (Britton-Purdy et al., 2020). This unusual, trying environment could be described as one of the increasing awareness of the instability of public spaces, as well as a reconsideration of foundational concepts and assumptions that undergird crucial aspects of society, especially those assumptions that have led to unjust outcomes for large segments of the public.
The noise of the background world has implications for and impacts on essential public services and the work of government generally. A central issue of the past several months has been the role and response of critical services of society – especially those who work in the
medical, emergency services, and criminal justice fields. Policy and governance views have been reconsidered as outcomes and results have been found wanting. Posttruth weighs heavily on discourses of all sorts, even as it still offers a weirdly untenable sanctuary for those who think that reality is negotiable. Work on these topics has become increasingly germane.
Four recent books are considered in this theme-based review: Critical Perspectives on the Management and Organization of Emergency Services, edited by Wankhade, McCann, and Murphy; Rhetorical Work in Emergency Medical Services: Communicating in the Unpredictable Workplace, by Angeli; Reconsidering Policy: Complexity, Governance, and the State, by Crowley, Stewart, Kay, and Head; and Risk and Uncertainty in a Post-Truth Society, edited by van der Linden and Löfstedt.
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Details
- Title
- Theme-based book review: Instability and reconsideration
- Publication Details
- International Journal of Public Administration, Vol.44, pp.705-709
- Resource Type
- Review
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis Inc.; United States
- Series
- 44
- Copyright
- © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
- Identifiers
- WOS:000639346700008; 99380090303306600
- Academic Unit
- Lewis Bear Jr. College of Business; Business Administration
- Language
- English