Reimagining Governance in the Field of Public Administration: Understanding Indigenous Resurgence

Abstract

The modern liberal conceptualization of governance remains predominant in the field and scholarship of public administration, albeit often indirectly. Indigenous resurgence, which highlights the intrinsic significance of Indigenous governance, exposes important incongruities between liberal conceptualizations of governance and modes of governance rooted upon Indigenous worldviews of relationality. This article considers three such examples. Drawing on diverse literatures, we argue that greater critical-reflexivity is required to reorient public administration towards resurgence to allow for disciplinary transformations informed by Indigenous knowledges. In so doing, we contribute to an ongoing discussion in public administration about the importance of onto-epistemological reflection and heterodoxy.