''People or Personnel'' is a critique of centralized power written by

Paul Goodman Paul Goodman (1911–1972) was an American writer and public intellectual best known for his 1960s works of social criticism. Goodman was prolific across numerous literary genres and non-fiction topics, including the arts, civil rights, decen ...

and published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

in 1965. An essay on anarchism in management described the book as being demonstrative of the "practical anarchism" epoch of the 1960s and 1970s.

Publication

Some of the book's writing originated in his notes for a seminar in urban affairs at

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscons ...

. These "Notes on Decentralization" were published in ''Dissent'' in 1964, republished in his 1977 expanded edition of '' Drawing the Line'', and appeared in other edited volumes.

published ''People or Personnel: Decentralizing and the Mixed System'' in 1965. Its appendices contain five previously published articles: "Getting into Power" (''Liberation'', 1962); "Avoiding Responsibility" (previously "The Establishment as a Moral Illegitimate" in ''Village Voice'', 1964); "A New Deal for the Arts" (''Commentary'', 1964); "Engaged Editing" (his preface to ''Seeds of Liberation'', 1964); and "An Example of Spontaneous Administration" (previously "Columbia's Unorthodox Seminars" in ''Harper's'', 1964). This edition also includes three public memoranda as appendices: to the Poverty Program, the

Office of Education The Office of Education, at times known as the Department of Education and the Bureau of Education, was a small unit in the Federal Government of the United States within the U.S. Department of the Interior from 1867 to 1972. It is now separated i ...

, and the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

. The aforementioned articles refer to his then-forthcoming book on decentralization by different titles, including ''Ways of Running Things'' and ''Decentralizing and the Mixed System''. Sections of the book were later reprinted in

Frank Tannenbaum Frank Tannenbaum (1893–1969) was an Austrian-American historian, sociologist and criminologist, who made significant contributions to modern Mexican history during his career at Columbia University. Early life Tannenbaum was born in Austria on ...

's ''A Community of Scholars: The University Seminars at Columbia'' (1965), Ronald Gross and Paul Osterman's ''Individualism: Man in Modern Society'' (1971), and ''Liberation'' magazine. The book's first chapter, originally published as "On Some Prima Facie Objections to Decentralism" (''Liberation'', 1964), was condensed and reprinted in the 1966 edited volume ''Patterns of Anarchy''. ''People or Personnel'' manuscripts and

galley proof In printing and publishing, proofs are the preliminary versions of publications meant for review by authors, editors, and proofreaders, often with extra-wide margins. Galley proofs may be uncut and unbound, or in some cases electronically tran ...

are held in

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

's special collections.

Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was purchased by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Hous ...

published a dual paperback edition in February 1968 combining ''People or Personnel'' with ''

Like a Conquered Province ''Like a Conquered Province: The Moral Ambiguity of America'' is a book of Paul Goodman's Massey Lectures for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on topics of American pathologies, in particular, citizens not taking responsibility for the co ...

'', adding additional republished essays for the latter's appendices.

Reception

''People or Personnel'' is among Goodman's best known works of social criticism.

Publication

Reception

References

Bibliography

Further reading