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The work of David John Farmer has been recognized as critical to the Public Policy and Administration canon. Its impact has been far-reaching both geographically because of its international application and theoretically because of the vast array of public administration challenges it can help resolve. This paper uses the concepts of rhizomatic thinking and reflexive interpretation to describe Farmerʼs work. And because a critical piece of Farmerʼs work is a bridging of the gap between theory and practice, it formally introduces Farmerʼs research approach as Farmerʼs Method. This article is intended to serve as a useful tool for students, practitioners, and theorists in understanding the vast contributions of David John Farmer and the practical application of his work.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of the public interest. The central question is whether the public interest is a usable concept in a time of social and political change. A historical overview of the public interest is provided. Two researchers are highlighted: David John Farmer and O.C. McSwite. The paper concludes by proposing the refusal of subjective identification with the public interest.

Discourse theory and Lacanian psychoanalysis are discussed in this paper. The emphasis in both approaches is to examine ethical challenges in politics and administration through new epistemological lenses. A further use of these research strategies is to identify existing institutional practices and situate administrative decision-making within those practices.

The findings in this paper indicate that while institutional resistance is useful, it can also be co-opted or result in retribution. In both cases, power is asserted and maintained by those who hold institutional power. David John Farmer’s work on anti-administration and O.C. McSwite’s work on administrative refusal are effective strategies to address the abuse of institutional power.

This paper introduces the concept of subjective identification to the literature of public administration. Subjective identification offers administrators a new approach to the ethical dilemmas they face in the workplace.

This paper explores the relevance of Adam Smith’s invisible hand and the remainder of his legacy for public management. The paper’s central claim is that, by approaching Adam Smith and his legacy, public managers can assist themselves to do what they should do - examine their latent assumptions. The first of three challenges in approaching Adam Smith’s ideas is to get Smith right, because he has been widely misunderstood. The second is to question Smith’s account of conceptual space; it is desirable to go beyond him. The third challenge is to explore in specific terms the potential for public management of an understanding of Smith and his legacy

The purpose of this paper is to recommend that public administration (PA) theory and practice should become more sensitive to its sub-administration, and to suggest how this can be done.

This conceptual paper maintains that this sub-administration includes those ideologies, myths and metaphors that contribute like an unconscious in shaping (and misshaping) governmental policy and administration. Descriptions of the nature of ideologies, myths and metaphors are given, along with some examples of those that are harmful – such as the ideologies of the American Business Model and neo-liberalism.

PA should seek to engage and oppose such ideologies, myths and metaphors that are problematic – both those constructed within and without of PA itself. It is recommended that, for such analytical purposes, PA should turn toward post-traditional PA, including the insights of post-modernism and epistemic pluralism.

The concept of sub-administration is of significant utility both for PA theorists and practitioners in strengthening public administrative performance. The author has offered such and/or similar recommendations in earlier publications, including in the International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior, 19 (1), 90-102: 2016.

This paper encourages an examination of the conceptual space which Adam Smith’s work and legacy present and which conditions thinking about governmental and societal organization and management. The paper, situating Smith in his eighteenth‐century context, distinguishes between the historical Smith and his legacy. It analyzes the invisible hand doctrine, showing that the doctrine should be understood in the context of Smith’s other writings and arguing that Smith himself would reject the version which many suppose to constitute the Smithian legacy. It emphasizes the importance of the Smithian legacy, and it argues that Smith’s readers should go beyond Smith by recognizing the socially constituted character of the conceptual space which Smith’s writings and legacy have provided to contemporary society. A central implication is that, by exploring Adam Smith and his legacy, governmental and other thinkers and managers can do what they should do ‐ examine their latent assumptions.

Shows that the post‐modern perspective has valuable implications for managing organizational and other change. In arguing for this claim, explains the starting point ‐ that post‐modernism is philosophical scepticism. Analyses the meaning of Derrida’s post‐modern view of justice, and explains why it is consistent with scepticism. Indicates that this view opposes domination and privileges hesitancy in imposing solutions. Discusses the nature and some uses of what is described as the “in‐between”. Post‐modern scepticism, justice as hesitation and acting in the in‐between are shown to constitute a post‐modern perspective which opens up prospects and vistas in an age where non‐hierarchical and multicultural interactions are useful. Opposing domination, for instance, translates into liberating previously marginalized voices, like those of subordinates, women, minorities, the sexually policed and the economically dominated.