This article aims to contribute to street-level bureaucracy theory by bringing to the forefront the experiences and perspectives of the Global South. Our argument is that mainstream literature in this field overlooks the social tensions that are more explicit in developing societies, resulting in a structurally limited analytical framework. We identify two key factors from the Global South that are often underestimated: the high degree of social inequalities that fundamentally affect state–citizen relationships, and the ways in which the state itself reflects and reproduces these inequalities. Our critique represents a step towards decolonizing the field and highlighting the conceptual contributions that studies from and of the Global South can offer. By examining the experiences of the Global South, we can gain insights into the crises societies in the Global North are also experiencing. Our article aims to contribute to street-level bureaucracy theory by emphasizing the value of incorporating these perspectives into the study of street-level bureaucracy.

中文翻译：

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在全球不平等的前线：研究街头官僚机构的非殖民方法

本文旨在通过将南半球国家的经验和观点带到最前沿，为街头官僚机构理论做出贡献。我们的观点是，这一领域的主流文献忽视了发展中社会中更为明显的社会紧张局势，导致分析框架在结构上受到限制。我们确定了南半球国家经常被低估的两个关键因素：从根本上影响国家与公民关系的高度社会不平等，以及国家本身反映和再现这些不平等的方式。我们的批评代表了该领域去殖民化的一步，并强调了来自全球南方的研究可以提供的概念贡献。通过考察南半球国家的经验，我们可以深入了解北半球国家社会也正在经历的危机。我们的文章旨在通过强调将这些观点纳入街头官僚机构研究的价值，为街头官僚机构理论做出贡献。