Memory and Institutional Amnesia in Government
Published on 28. May 2026
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-0-19-790502-9 (ISBN)
Description
Memory and Institutional Amnesia in Government examines the way in which government suffers from institutional amnesia, meaning that it cannot hold or use memory of the past. Consequently, a great deal of important knowledge is erased and those who work in government find themselves repeating the mistakes of the past.
The book explores these issues through a comparison of the public services of Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom in which the authors establish the causes of institutional amnesia, analyze its effects, and recommend a series of treatments that might remedy the problems that it causes.
The book explores these issues through a comparison of the public services of Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom in which the authors establish the causes of institutional amnesia, analyze its effects, and recommend a series of treatments that might remedy the problems that it causes.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
517 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-790502-9 (9780197905029)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Alastair Stark is an Associate Professor at the University of Queensland and the Director of the Graduate Centre of Governance and International Affairs.
Hridesh Gajurel is an ARC Laureate Research Fellow at the School of Regulation and Global Governance at Australian National University.
Jack Corbett is Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Vice President of Academic Board at Monash University, Australia.
Dennis C. Grube is Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, and a Professorial Fellow at St Catharine's College.
Heather Lovell is Professor of Energy and Society at the University of Tasmania, Australia, and holds a joint position in the School of Social Sciences and the School of Geography, Planning & Spatial Sciences.
Rodney J. Scott is Vice Chancellor's Fellow at RMIT University.
Hridesh Gajurel is an ARC Laureate Research Fellow at the School of Regulation and Global Governance at Australian National University.
Jack Corbett is Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Vice President of Academic Board at Monash University, Australia.
Dennis C. Grube is Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, and a Professorial Fellow at St Catharine's College.
Heather Lovell is Professor of Energy and Society at the University of Tasmania, Australia, and holds a joint position in the School of Social Sciences and the School of Geography, Planning & Spatial Sciences.
Rodney J. Scott is Vice Chancellor's Fellow at RMIT University.
Author
Associate ProfessorAssociate Professor, University of Queensland
ARC Laureate Research FellowARC Laureate Research Fellow, Australian National University
Deputy DeanDeputy Dean, Monash University
Professor of Politics and Public PolicyProfessor of Politics and Public Policy, University of Cambridge
Professor of Energy and SocietyProfessor of Energy and Society, University of Tasmania
Vice Chancellor's FellowVice Chancellor's Fellow, RMIT University
Content
1: Remembering the Past to Govern in the Present Part I. Formal-Institutional Amnesia 2: Formal-Institutional Amnesia 3: The Causes of Institutional Amnesia 4: The Effects of Institutional Amnesia Part II. Cultural Amnesia and Storytelling 5: Cultural Memory, Storytelling, and the Loss of Remembrance 6: The Ghost of Aid Agencies Past: Narrating the Lives and Deaths of an Institution 7: Remembered, Retold, and Forgotten: New Public Management Stories in New Zealand 8: The UK Treasury: Memory as Orthodoxy and Convention 9: Trauma, Radical Acceptance, and Machinery of Government Changes in the Energy Sector 10: Treatments for Institutional Amnesia 11: Conclusion