Dismantling racism and white supremacy in public service institutions and society: contextualizing the discussion and introducing the symposium

Beyond social equity: Talking social justice in public administration

“…(d) social solidarity and community capacity for collaborative action (McCandless & Blessett, 2022). As we aim to show in what follows, this definition encompasses distributional and interactional aims that we want to suggest need fuller consideration.…”

“…These examples reflect a continuing interest in procedural justice (fairness) as a core value in administrative practice, albeit challenged by a managerial focus on results with the possible neglect of due process. Without underestimating or neglecting the importance of administrative process, a comprehensive definition of social justice could expand to include (a) fair redistribution of resources, opportunities, and responsibilities; (b) challenges to the roots of oppression and injustice; (c) empowerment of all people to exercise self‐determination and realize their full potential; (d) social solidarity and community capacity for collaborative action (McCandless & Blessett, 2022). As we aim to show in what follows, this definition encompasses distributional and interactional aims that we want to suggest need fuller consideration.…”

“…McCandless and Blessett (2022) argue that if social equity is indeed a “pillar” of public administration, then the field must expand to “name, blame, and claim inequities” (Gooden, 2014). Social equity in this reading lies in acknowledging that as a disciplinary field and professional practice, public administration has “created, maintained, and extended systems of injustice that benefit (indeed, exalt) White populations while systematically subordinating other populations at multiple levels (individual, group, systemic, and societal) through norms and values” (McCandless & Blessett, 2022, p. 91). They argued that social equity is itself a socially constructed concept, and as such is created, applied, interpreted, and kept going in its multiple and widespread linguistic interpretations and applications to different situations.…”

Rising Gender Inequities: The Case of Authoritarian Patriarchy

“…However, I would argue that when focus is given to equitable policymaking, the natural outcome will be effective policies that are inclusive and efficient. McCandless and Blessett (2022) argue the following:…”

Exploring the Role of Felt Experience and the Autonomic Nervous System in Human Service Interactions

“…In other words, this is something that creates a pervasive feeling of danger that affects a group of people's access to safety. Racism and white supremacy are key examples of how this might show up, as they shape American society as well as public administration (Gaynor, 2018;McCandless & Blessett, 2022) by conditioning white people to feel fear in the presence of Black people (Menakem, 2017). Beyond limiting safety in an individual's nervous system as discussed above, pervasive racism shapes the possibility of safety in interactions for both white and Black people as it conditions the nervous system to protect against perceived danger.…”