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The Blacksburg Manifesto And The Postmodern Debate: Public Administration In A Time Without A Name, Gary S. Marshall, Orion F. White

Public Administration Faculty Publications

The question, "Does the message of the Blacksburg Manifesto fit the times that we are in now and the times that seem to be shaping up in the next decade or longer?" is addressed by epistemologically locating the Blacksburg Manifesto and by introducing the postmodern debate to the field of public administration. The well-known Blacksburg Manifesto is described as an example of high modernism, beyond the functionalist paradigm, because although the central commitment is to reason and progress, the classic forms of administrative rationality are surpassed. It is classified as high modernism because the agency perspective, as articulated in the …