Critical Book Reviews: The Growth, Peregrinations and Transformations of Public Administration. Public Administration in Transition: Essays in Honor of Gerald E. Caiden by D. Argyriades, O.P. Dwivedi and J. Jabbra (eds) London, Vallentine Mitchell, 2007, ISBN: 978 0 85303 754 5
| DOI | 10.1177/00208523070730031102 |
| Date | 01 September 2007 |
| Published date | 01 September 2007 |
| Author | Rolet Loretan |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
authors posit a novel, alternative model of development/well-being; one that departs
substantially from the traditional concept, which goes back to the origins of European
thought and purports man’s domination and exploitation of nature. To veer away
from this mindset, they propose a new management culture and spiritual values
different from those that have prevailed in large parts of the world under the overall
dominance of NPM.
One may agree with their thesis, or disagree with it. However, no one will dispute
that the authors of this study have cogently presented an alternative which parts
ways with the conventional thinking of the past two decades, especially. What is
more, they’ve supported their thesis with a wealth of historical data and comparative
analysis. In fact, historical depth and comparative analysis represent two signal
strengths of their study. By contrast, the information drawn from statistical sources is
not always up to date. However, if this is a flaw, it only detracts imperceptibly from
the value of this study, which lies in its refreshingly ‘iconoclastic’ treatment of official
government rhetoric and conventional half-truths.
The Growth, Peregrinations and Transformations of Public
Administration
Rolet Loretan
Public Administration in Transition: Essays in Honor of Gerald E. Caiden by D.
Argyriades, O.P. Dwivedi and J. Jabbra (eds) London, Vallentine Mitchell, 2007,
ISBN: 978 0 85303 754 5.
The authors have called it a labour of love. This may be a fitting description of a
collection of essays contributed in honour of a teacher and scholar whose 50 years
of service have greatly advanced the field and trained generations of students from
all the world’s main regions in this emerging field. Indeed, the book – a Festschrift –
has been produced to mark a major milestone in a career that spans five critical
decades, touched half-a-dozen countries and covered every facet of an expanding
field. The contents of this symposium and range of its contributors bespeak an evo-
lution which, since the Second World War, has totally transformed the discipline we
call Administrative Sciences or Public Administration.
The IIAS takes pride in this signal development of which it has been part. It
welcomes a new volume which traces this trajectory, but also represents the output
of a team of scholars from very different backgrounds but all with common ties to
the Institute. Drs Argyriades and Jabbra have been General-Rapporteurs of major IIAS
Congresses, and as for Professor Dwivedi, he is a former Vice-President of the
International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA).
All three are currently members of an IIAS Working Group on the Human Factor
in Global Governance. Likewise, the 15 contributors of inputs to the Festschrift hail
from as many states, as far from one another as Alaska is to Australia, but have been
brought together by close professional bonds, to the honoured Los Angeles scholar
and commitment to the field which they share with Gerald Caiden.
506 International Review of Administrative Sciences 73(3)
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