Reflective Public Administration: Context, knowledge and methods is the contribution to the two-part series on an updated approach to the first edition, Reflective Public Administration: Views from the South. The editors, Wessels, Pauw and Thani, present Reflective Public Administration: Context, knowledge and methods as a thinking aid for public administrators (practitioners, academics, and researchers) and students. Divided into two parts, the content covers the following range of topics: Part I: The concept of public administration is dealt with as well as the development and reconstruction of the state in South Africa. The philosophical issues in management and development at the beginning of the twenty-first century are looked at thereafter as well as the African public administration. Part II: The nature of social science is explored and the paradigmatic debate in South African public administration is revisited. Research and research methods in public administration is addressed and followed by a look at creative writing as qualitative research. Narrative and philosophy are examined as methods and the understanding and invention of meaning in reading is explored.