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Conflict, ambivalence, and the contested purpose of public organizations

Hoggett, Paul

Authors

Paul Hoggett



Abstract

This article argues that public organizations are inherently more complex than private ones. Their complexity derives from two sources. The public sphere is the site for the continuous contestation of public purposes and this means that questions regarding values and policies saturate all public organizations, particularly at the point of delivery. Second, because government partly acts as the receptacle for the alienated subjectivity of citizens, public organizations have to contain much of what is disowned by the society in which they are situated. It follows that the fate of the public official, sometimes referred to as the 'street-level bureaucrat', is to have to contain the unresolved (and often partially suppressed) value conflicts and moral ambivalence of society. Such a perspective has implications for all of those who, in their different roles, seek to bring about change or development in public organizations. Psychoanalytic approaches to organizational consultation have not adequately understood the contested nature of public organizations and some key aspects of this approach, such as the concept of the organization's primary task, need to be reconsidered. Copyright © 2006 The Tavistock Institute ®.

Citation

Hoggett, P. (2006). Conflict, ambivalence, and the contested purpose of public organizations. Human Relations, 59(2), 175-194. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726706062731

Journal Article Type Review
Publication Date Feb 1, 2006
Journal Human Relations
Print ISSN 0018-7267
Electronic ISSN 1741-282X
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Not Peer Reviewed
Volume 59
Issue 2
Pages 175-194
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726706062731
Keywords ambivalence, primary task, social anxieties, value pluralism
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1041236
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0018726706062731


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