Administrative Theory & Praxis

Reimagining Public Administration Praxis: Queer[ing] Theoretical and Empirical Approaches

Introduction

Queer theory emerged in the early 1990s as a critical framework that challenges heteronormative assumptions and interrogates the social construction of gender and sexual identities (de Lauretis, 1991; Sedgwick, 1990; Butler, 1990). Rather than defending particular identities, queer theory works to expose and destabilize binary categories, revealing how power structures produce and maintain normative understandings of gender and sexuality. As both a theoretical lens and a political project, queer theory has expanded beyond sexuality studies to examine how power operates through categorization and normalization across multiple domains of social life (Foucault, 1982). Queering has been expanded to specifically focus attention on power dynamics, moving away from ‘normalizing vs othering’ debates and instead focusing on empowerment and inclusion (Larson, 2022; Meyer et al., 2025)

Queer[ing] theory (QT) and cognate paradigms critique the normative, epistemological, and ontological foundations of identity, sexuality, and gender norms, challenging the varied ways that public administration restricts and rewards identities and behaviors that approximate unquestioned and/or unquestionable identity, gender, sexuality, romance, and family structures and types (Evans, 2026; Galego, 2022, 2023). Norms and dictates for identity, sexuality, and gender are maintained through administrative structures: bureaucracies, informal social structures, voluntary organizations, and legal/regulatory codes—and in all respects such norms and dictates are under attack as we see evidence of increased assaults on social equity and marginalized communities in all sectors (Meyer et al., 2022), and increasing democratic backsliding and attempts at the erasure of history and identities (Irizarry et al., 2025).

This special issue embraces the radical promise of QT as a generative force for reimagining public administration (Heckler & Nickels, 2025). Rather than seeking to normalize or mainstream QT—which would undermine its transformative power—we recognize its unique capacity to open new possibilities for institutional thinking and practice. QT's strength lies precisely in its resistance to rigid attachment to any single theoretical framework or methodology; instead, it creates space for multiple perspectives, knowledges, and ways of being to coexist and flourish. This approach offers an expansive vision: rather than simply redistributing power within existing hierarchical structures, QT invites us to fundamentally rethink how administrative systems can genuinely include and value diverse voices and experiences (Galego, 2026). In doing so, queer theory extends a hopeful invitation to all those engaged in critical scholarship, social equity work, and social justice movements—to collectively imagine and build administrative institutions that reflect our fullest aspirations for inclusion, dignity, and human flourishing.

Public administration’s premier theoretical research journal, Administration Theory & Praxis submits this call for papers (CFP) for scholars, practitioners, and activists engaging in theory that transforms, transitions, and transcends the governance of gender and sexuality. This special issue on queer theory (QT) in public service will collect research, dialogues, and reviews of relevant artifacts from across multiple fields exploring the insights of QT for public administration. Authors of accepted abstracts will be invited to submit full papers for a special issue in ATP.

Topics of Interest

Topics of interest for this special issue on QT in Public Administration, Governance, Management, Nonprofits, and/or Civil Society (and how they apply) may include, but are not restricted to:

• Theoretical Interventions.
  • Papers that use queer theory to interrogate core public administration concepts (bureaucracy, accountability, efficiency, the public interest, representative bureaucracy, etc.) or that bring PA frameworks into dialogue with queer studies scholarship.
• Policy and Praxis
  • Empirical studies examining LGBTQ+ policy implementation, service delivery, administrative responses to queer communities, or case studies of specific programs or agencies.
• Queering Public Administration: Power, Governance, & Resistance
  • Work examining how administrative systems exercise power over queer lives, resistance strategies, or transformative possibilities.
• Organizational and Institutional Dimensions
  • Research on workplace dynamics, diversity initiatives, organizational culture, or how administrative institutions regulate or produce gender/sexuality norms.
• Intersectional and comparative approaches
  • Studies that center race, class, disability, or other intersecting identities alongside sexuality/gender in administrative contexts.
  • Studies that push beyond U.S. or Western-centric frames to consider how queer theory intersects with governance, law, and administration in diverse regional and national contexts. We encourage contributors to include this theme in other themes as well.
• Historical and comparative perspectives
  • How administrative approaches to sexuality/gender have evolved, or cross-national/cross-cultural comparisons.
• The Role of Non-Traditional Influences and Approaches to the Development of QT: Arts, Music, Sports, Media & Popular Culture
  • Submissions may analyze how these influences, approaches, and artifacts challenge or reproduce administrative norms, inform public understandings of Q identities, become tools for activism and praxis in and around public institutions, and/or influence the development of QT.

(references available on request from the Guest Editors)