The relevance of CRT to public administrative practice: The role of leaders

Abstract

Public administration is poised to recognize that race is constitutive of bureaucratic hierarchies, processes, and outcomes and, as such, to ground our work in a more critical and progressive conceptual framework. In this exploratory analysis, we center Critical Race Theory (CRT) around practice, or praxis, a process that is self-reflexive and race-conscious to address root causes of racism, on the role of public sector leaders. This paper applies leadership research to demonstrate how public leaders, particularly career bureaucrats, can help to eliminate institutional racism. We specifically explore how critical race praxis (CRP) can apply to environmental justice and the movement against environmental racism.