Opening the Door to Labor: Changing Our View of the Field’s Past to Help Create a More Class Inclusive Public Administration for the Future

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article argues that the future of Public Administration (PA) requires developing a more class inclusive field. Despite labor leaders helping to shape the administrative state in the Progressive Era (ca. 1895–1917) the PA canon continues to emphasize the work of people from the middle and upper classes. The article urges revitalizing the field’s history for the future by including Progressive era labor leaders as one way of adding a labor presence to the field.