Outlandish Perspectives on Public Administration
Not all collections of an author’s past works need be a dull revisitation of the best-forgotten. This book brings together Charles T. Goodsell’s works on public administration, some of which are of ancient vintage or go outside the field for inspiration, possibly earning the appellation ‘outlandish’. Such essays draw from fields including symbol analysis, theory of art, room phenomenology, and theories of public space. The book also deals with more orthodox topics, such as bureau culture, government contracting, and the early New Deal. The author’s methodological biases, placed in full view, will assure controversy. The book ends by encouraging young new scholars to have fun by picking unusual topics and treating them at a fresh angle.
Charles T. Goodsell is Professor Emeritus of Public Administration at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. He received his BA from Kalamazoo College, USA, and his MPA, MA and PhD from Harvard University. He has taught at several universities both in and outside of the United States, with the last 24 years spent at the Center for Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Tech. He is the author of 14 books, 40 peer-reviewed articles and 10 book chapters. His primary field of interest has been public administration, while his work also explores international corporations, history and architecture.
"The brain drain has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent phenomenon called the great resignation. Within this context, I would argue that it has never been more important to understand points of contention, things defined as outlandish or even just a different, not mainstream, perspective in public administration. Briefly, we need a catalog of the outlandish perspectives on public administration, and Dr. Goodsell has provided that for us."
Arthur J. Sementelli, Public Voices, Vol. XVII, No. 2
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