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Postmodern Th eory
Th e other families of theory described and evaluated in Th e Public Administra-
tion Th eory Primer generally accept as their basic thesis the positivist canons of
empirical social science. In contrast, postmodern public administration theory
is the antithesis of positivism and the logic of objective social science. Indeed,
postmodern theory rejects many of the basic epistemological assumptions of be-
havioral social science, and for that reason we initially had diffi culty locating a
chapter on postmodern theory in this book. But because postmodern theory has
infl uenced institutional theory and public management theory, and has many ad-
herents in public administration, some more orthodox and passionate than oth-
ers, we judged a chapter on this theory necessary and relevant. More importantly,
the various streams of the theory that have now combined and fl ow together in
the river of postmodern theory have obviously infl uenced other bodies of theory
covered in these pages.
Organizational Humanism and Postpositivism
Th e concept, ideas, and arguments that we lump together as postmodern the-
ory have an interesting provenance in modern public administration.^1 Although
arbitrary, it could be said that what is now thought of as postmodern public
administration theory had its origin in the pioneering work of Chester Bar-
nard (1948) and his interpretation of the results of the Hawthorne experiments
(Roethlisberger and Dickson 1939). In contrast to the emphasis on formal or-
ganizational structure and the principles of management in very early public
administration, Barnard described organizations as highly social environments
in which workers are as interested in recognition and psychological support as
they are in salary and favorable working conditions. In such settings, the in-
formal features of day-to-day organizational functioning are more important
than a formal bureaucratic structure in terms of both workers’ satisfaction and
productivity. Barnard’s concepts were later simplifi ed and put into philosophical