Queer[ing] Public Administration and public administration: A way forward through a contested concept

This Dialogue examines the contested concept of “queer” and its implications for both Public Administration as an academic field and public administration as a practice. Acknowledging that “queer” remains internally disputed—reclaimed by some as empowerment yet experienced by others as harm—the authors deliberately adopt the term “queer[ing]” to foreground advocacy, social justice, and the ongoing process of reimagining identity and exclusion. Given the global backdrop of intensifying backlash against LGBTQIA+ rights, this Dialogue argues that progress has been uneven and that queer concerns remain vulnerable to political distortion. Rather than retreating into a scholarly “closet,” the authors call for strategic resistance built through reconceptualization, experience-based knowledge, and educational training. The Dialogue advances three interrelated pathways forward: reconceptualizing queer[ing] as an open, generative positionality rather than a fixed identity; centering queer epistemologies and lived experience within knowledge production, co-production, and policy implementation; and embedding queer[ing] within public administration education to reduce institutional bias and discrimination. Drawing on Freirean pedagogy and decolonial thought, the piece frames queer[ing] as a humanistic, transformative lens. It concludes by introducing a Special Issue intended to foster equity, amplify marginalized voices, and reimagine public administration praxis in service of democratic ideals.