Today I did another 10 lap yomp around the Alexandra Park, with my backpack of bricks and weights, while, er, talking to myself. The reason I blog about this one, and not all the others, is that I hit a couple of milestones that I’ve been struggling towards today. I feel a little bit proud... Continue Reading →
De-lardification hits some milestones
It was partly dehydration. I know this. But so what, you take your wins and your milestones where you can. And I did not weaken and allow myself the reward of a veggie fry-up. That sucker is still 700 grammes away. Maybe Thursday, maybe next week. It will be, in Paul Keating's 1993 words, the... Continue Reading →
Dog Day late morning, with Igor and Mabel in Alexandra Park
I am doing a LOT of yomping around Alexandra Park (2km perimeter, according to GoogleMaps). Mostly with 24 kilos of bricks and weights in a backpack held together with duct tape, while talking to myself on an ancient phone: I run the files through an online converter, and then through Otter.ai which transcribes my words... Continue Reading →
It feels like they win when they lose – hegemonic accommodation and institutional entrepreneurs
I re-read Levy, D. and Scully, M. 2007. The Institutional Entrepreneur as Modern Prince: The Strategic Face of Power in Contested Fields. Organization Studies, 28(07): 971–991. while slogging around Alex Park with my backpack full of books and weights this morning. I had forgotten just how damn good it is, and how damn useful it will... Continue Reading →
How the sun also rises- on solar energy, institutional shifts and industry creation
Day three of my policy of writing about each paper/book I read under three categories (in escalating importance a) highlight interesting theory/facts b) relate the reading to other (academic) reading, and c) how it helps me move forward on my Thesis, (Handing Over M-phatically August/September ’17) (aka "THOMAS"). Today's article (and yes, having... Continue Reading →
Concern trolling, gaslighting, lying and other corporate strategies versus transition…
Day two of my new policy about writing what I read. a) highlight interesting theory/facts b) relate the reading to other (academic) reading, and c) how it helps me move forward on my Thesis, (Handing Over M-phatically August/September (’17) (Thomas). This paper below came via my supervisor and it is bloody fantastic. Smink,... Continue Reading →
Two Lewises and the America Empire. Oh, and resonance machines…
So, new policy. Stuff that gets read while I walk around the park with a backpack full of books and weights [walk in the park], gets written up before I am allowed to do any more reading. And the job is to try to a) highlight interesting theory/facts b) relate the reading to other (academic)... Continue Reading →
#Awalkinthepark – think tanks, discursive institutionalism institutional logic
Right, so here are four more things (a couple of them very short) Ladl, S. 2011. Think Tanks, Discursive Institutionalism and Policy Change. In Papanagnou, G. (ed) Social Science and Policy Challenges: Democracy, Values and Capacities. UNESCO Publishing. Pp. 205-220. Tolbert, P. and Zucker, P. 1999. The Institutionalization of Institutional Theory. In Clegg S. and... Continue Reading →
#Awalkinthepark – discursive institutionalism yet again
Four papers here, the fourth of which doesn’t quite ‘fit’, but never mind… The TL;DR is that Discursive Institutionalism is a pretty powerful (too powerful?) way of looking at policy change/lack of change. Schmidt, V. 2010. Taking ideas and discourse seriously: explaining change through discursive institutionalism as the fourth ‘new institutionalism’. European Political Science Review,... Continue Reading →
#Awalkinthepark – Policy Theories and how to mash them up.
Making sense of it all? How do we mash-up public policy theories, improve them. What should we worry about as we do this? Cairney, P. 2013. Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: How Do We Combine the Insights of Multiple Theories in Public Policy Studies? Policy Studies Journal, Vol. 41, (1), pp.1-21. Petridou, E. 2014.... Continue Reading →