Transforming Public Administration in Canada: An Exploration of Social Equity in Research, Practice, and Teaching(Public Administration & Social Equity)

This book explores the intersection of social equity-related issues with concerns within the field of public administration in Canada. Shifts in public sector governance, populist discourse and political extremism, democratic instability, and super-wicked challenges such as climate change and environmental disasters, demographic transformations (aging society along with increased migration), financial crises, terrorism, housing crises, religious conflicts and racial inequities, dominate the landscape. This book challenges scholars from schools of public administration to use a social equity lens to reimagine and rethink the ways in which public administration is currently practiced, with the goal of abandoning colonial logics that betray social equity. The chapters in this volume include contributions from a diversity of authors, each contributing their unique perspectives on social equity as they relate broadly to their areas of expertise. The authors share a common interest in critically exploring how social equity intersects with their areas of public administration research or practice including concerns with environmental justice, Indigenous rights, education and decolonization. This book is intended for three audiences: (1) scholars who are also involved in teaching public administration; (2) students of public administration who want to learn more about what they are learning, and why social equity matters to their field of study; and (3) public administrators who are managing public institutions and who may also be involved in training public administrators.

Table of Contents:
SECTION I. GOVERNANCE AND JUSTICE Chapter 1. Introduction: Positioning Social Equity in Public Administration; Jill Anne Chouinard and Susanne Thiessen Chapter 2. Buying Reconciliation? Public Procurement as a Vehicle of Reconciliation; Leslie Anderson Chapter 3. Social Equity in Public Administration: Hidden Impacts of Judicial Decision-Making; Robert Lapper, KC Chapter 4. Discourses of Deserving: An Analysis of the City of Victoria’s Decisions About Daytime Sheltering in Parks During the COVID-Chapter 19 Pandemic; Sonja Zoeller Chapter 5. Post-Truth: What Are the Implications for Evaluators?; Astrid Brousselle Chapter 6. Speaking Up for the Soft Skills in Developing an Inclusive Environment: Experiences of Black Public Service Employees; J. Barton Cunningham, Moses Mukasa, and Mariam Okwengu Chapter 7. Building Equitable Futures: Bridging Policy Gaps for Skilled Immigrant Success in Canada; Ash Moosavi SECTION II. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE Chapter 8. A Hot Topic: Examining Emergency Management, Planning, and Policy Responses to Extreme Heat in British Columbia Through an Equity-Informed Lens; Kirsten Mah and Sarah Marie Wiebe Chapter 9. Seeking Justice and Equity on the Path to Decarbonizing Economies; Tamara Krawchenko, Ekaterina Rhodes, and Julie MacArthur Chapter 10. Foresting Social Equity: From the Amazon to British Columbian Forests; Olívia Andrade de Almeida and Kelsey Winter SECTION III. EQUITY AND EDUCATION Chapter 11. Decolonizing Educational Practices in Public Administration Through a Four Directions Continuum; Susanne Thiessen Chapter 12. Social Equity and the “New Public Administration” in Canada; Evert Lindquist Chapter 13. In Partnership: Co-Designing a Social Equity Focused Graduate Program With the Community; Lynne Siemens

About the Author :
Jill Anne Chouinard is a professor at the University of Victoria, Canada. Susanne Thiessen, an assistant professor and associate director at the School of Public Administration at the University of Victoria, Canada, brings a multifaceted Gitxsan/Haida/Scottish Canadian perspective to her scholarly and practical pursuits.