Paradoxes of universal knowledge in public administration: exploring the contexts of Africa and Asia

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to explore the paradoxes of ‘universal knowledge’ in public administration that claims cross-cultural relevance and validity, while remains highly parochial (non-universal) in terms of representing mostly the Western administrative traditions imposed and imitated worldwide. It re-examines African and Asian public administration knowledge to explain how the borrowed Western knowledge de-indigenized local administrative traditions, and how it continued to remain exclusive in terms of severe underrepresentation of African and Asian scholars and institutions in the processes of knowledge production, utilization and ownership. The article critically reviews existing literature to evaluate publications (books, articles and reports) on the origins, theories and practical models of public administration in Africa and Asia. It concludes that what is often presented as universal knowledge in the field is actually based on its inherent Eurocentric parochialism.