<title>Abstract</title> This essay seeks to develop a theoretical framework for public-sector managerial change that draws on social movement theory, an approach located within the domain of political sociology. The essay opens with a brief examination of the literature on the New Public Management and governance which, it is argued, draws on a neo-liberal agenda, displays a tendency to de-centre or marginalize considerations of democracy and politics and offers abstract, top -- down, descriptions of change. Approaches to social movement theory are considered, with particular attention paid to two dominant schools: the <italic>political process approach</italic> and <italic>new social movement theory</italic> which account for ‘how’ and ‘why’ change occurs. By operating through grass-roots networks, and offering symbolic challenges to the dominant neo-liberal order, social movements help us to see more clearly the limitations of conventional wisdom on public-sector managerial change, and consider resistances, accommodations and messy compromises. The essay seeks to use such insights to re-conceptualize public-sector managerial change.
