134 6: Postmodern Th eory
Rather it is a function of the nature and quality of social relations through which
purposes change” (1989, 149). Th e good, and the extent to which that good is be-
ing organizationally furthered, is a process of conscious interpretation on the part
of those in organizations. It is also a process whereby researchers seek to under-
stand administrative behavior and interpret actions and their meanings.
As a separate and distinct approach to public administration theory, the inter-
pretive/action theory concept had limited traction. Th e ideas and concept upon
which interpretative action theory is based, however, became central to what
eventually became postmodern public administration theory.
Also resting on a phenomenological foundation, critical theory in the post-
positivist tradition is especially infl uenced by Jürgen Habermas (1970, 1971)
and the distinction among instrumental, interpretative, and critical reasoning.
Modern social theory, following Habermas, is “infused with instrumental reason,
which leads to unrefl exive use of technique in the control of social relationships”
(Harmon and Mayer 1986, 320). Critical reasoning seeks to “emancipate” these in
collective settings from asymmetric power relations primarily through authentic
discourse. In our day, the notion of emancipation is described as the empower-
ment of workers. It is through authentic discourse that truth claims can be tested
and refi ned in the search for “hermeneutic” (the study of the relationship among
reason, language, and knowledge) truth. Denhardt’s application of critical theory
states that
a critical theory of public organizations would examine the technical basis of
bureaucratic domination and the ideological justifi cations for this condition,
and would ask in what ways members and clients of public bureaucracies might
better understand the resultant limitations placed on their actions and in turn
develop new modes of administrative praxis.
In contrast to the emphasis on order and regulation that we fi nd in the main-
stream literature in public administration, a critical approach would emphasize
the conditions of power and dependence that characterize contemporary or-
ganizational life and the considerable potential for confl ict and disorder that
these conditions portend. Such an approach would enable us to rethink issues of
organizational change in dialectical terms, as a consequence of competing forces
operating in a linguistic context, and would thus permit a more dynamic under-
standing of organizational life. Moreover, such an approach would reveal certain
contradictions inherent in hierarchical organizations. By specifying the ways in
which current relationships of power and dependence result in alienation and
estrangement, critical theory of public organizations would suggest more direct
attempts to improve the quality of organizational life. (1993, 203–204)Hummel’s approach to critical theory is somewhat broader and bolder. “Gen-
erations of newcomers,” he writes,