By The RC48 Team

It has been a remarkable journey of global intellectual exchange. The Research Committee on Administrative Culture (RC48) of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) is proud to announce the successful conclusion of the first edition of our International Monthly Lecture Series (IMLS) .

Between August 2025 and April 2026, we hosted eight insightful online lectures that brought together scholars, practitioners, and PhD candidates from over a dozen countries. True to the mission of RC48, the series challenged conventional public administration and governance scholarship by exploring new conceptual tools and emerging governance mechanisms across different cultural settings.

As we prepare to return in August 2026 with the 2nd Edition, we look back at the rich tapestry of ideas shared over these past months.

The Lectures: A Retrospective

Lecture 1 (August 26, 2025) – Inclusive Governance in India
We launched the series with Dr. A. Ranjithkumar’s provocative lecture, "Serving the Margins: Rethinking Public Administration for Inclusive Governance in India." Dr. Ranjithkumar set a high bar by asking how administrative systems can fundamentally restructure to serve those often left behind.

Lecture 2 (September 26, 2025) – Resilience in Political Leadership
Dr. Shane Mohammed, Senior Lecturer and Geo-Political Scientist from Trinidad and Tobago, explored "Resilience as a Characteristic of Political Leadership," offering a Caribbean perspective on how leaders navigate compounding crises.

Lecture 3 (October 31, 2025) – Digital Governance & Behavioural Control
Dr. Alexander Sokolov, Head of the Department of Socio-Political Theories at Demidov Yaroslavl State University (Russia), delivered a comprehensive comparative study on "The Peculiarities of Regulation and Management of Individual Behaviour in the Digital Age." With over 50 participants from India, Poland, Morocco, Russia, Colombia, South Africa, Israel, China, Italy, and Trinbago, this lecture highlighted the transformative—and often unsettling—impact of digital technologies on social behaviour and governance.

Lecture 4 (November 27, 2025) – Transparency in Local Government
Mrs. Margarita (Rita) Barer, PhD Candidate at Ben-Gurion University and Deputy Commissioner in Israel’s Ministry of the Interior, provided a 360° perspective on "Transparency in Local Government." She meticulously mapped the pre-conditions, barriers, and incentives that enhance transparency. We were honoured to have her supervisors, Prof. Fany Yuval and Prof. Lotam Yurie, in attendance.

Lecture 5 (January 26) – Neurodivergence & NGO Inclusion
In a session that truly embodied RC48’s mission to challenge epistemic limits, Weronika Ludek (PhD Candidate and Lecturer at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland) spoke on "The Role of Non-governmental Organizations in the Inclusion of Neurodivergent Citizens in the European Union and Poland." Ms. Ludek made a powerful case for a rights-based approach, highlighting the work of Polish foundations like Fundacja Neuroróżnorodni and Fundacja JiM.

Lecture 6 (March 3) – Multi-Scale Governance & Shrimp Cultivation
Ms. Siri Varshini, a PhD Research Scholar at BITS Hyderabad (India), presented fascinating empirical work on "Cross-Scale Linkages and Intersection of Rules in the Governance of Shrimp Cultivation." Her analysis of rule intersections in a multi-scale governance setup demonstrated the complexity of environmental regulation in practice.

Lecture 7 (March 26) – Resilience from Theory to Practice
Our Co-Vice Chair, Kinga Feenstra (Independent Scholar and Policy Advisor from the Netherlands), delivered the 7th lecture, "Conceptualising Resilience: From Theory to Governance Practice." Based in Pasto, Colombia, Kinga bridged the gap between rhetoric and reality, using the Resilient Bo Tu 2028 Initiative in Rotterdam’s Bospolder-Tussendijken district as a case study to show how ambitious resilience narratives hit institutional and financial constraints.

Lecture 8 (April 24) – Cognitive Warfare & Democratic Resilience
Dr. Marco Marsili (Researcher, Centre for International Studies, University of Lisbon, Portugal) closed the first edition with a prescient lecture on "Administrative Culture in the Age of Cognitive Warfare." Dr. Marsili explored how governance cultures can either resist or succumb to disinformation and hybrid threats, linking administrative norms directly to the preservation of democratic legitimacy and informed public discourse.

Growing a Global Forum

As Coordinator of the IMLS programme, Saraswathi Unni, it has been a privilege to watch this initiative grow from an idea into a vibrant forum for global discussion on Administrative Culture. My sincere thanks go to the IMLS team: Kinga Feenstra (Netherlands/Colombia), Dr. Shane A. Mohammed (Trinbago), and Ranjith Kumar (India).

We are also deeply grateful to our engaged community. Special mentions to the discussants who added rigour to our sessions: Vered Uziel (Israel), Marco Marsili (Italy), Jayant Sarmah (India), Ashok Basu (India), Magdalena Musiał-Karg, Maria Marczewska-Rytko, Arif Khan (Pakistan), Carmelo Cattafi, Raosaheb Bawaskar, Mathieu St-Laurent, and Weronika Ludek.

Looking Ahead

The first edition proved that administrative culture is not a static concept but a living, contested field of practice. From the shrimp farms of India to the digital surveillance states of the global north, from neurodivergent inclusion in Poland to cognitive warfare in Lisbon, we have seen that how we govern reflects who we are—and who we wish to become.

The 2nd Edition of the IMLS will begin in August 2026. Stay tuned for our call for speakers and topics. We invite all IPSA RC48 members and the broader public administration community to join us as we continue to rethink governance for a complex world.

Interested in attending or speaking in Edition 2? Follow RC48 channels for updates, or contact the IMLS Coordination Team.

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