I don't get many requests to take part in research, but the rate seems to be increasing, and the to-and-fro takes up everyone's bandwidth. Therefore this; Dear Xx/Xy/prefer not to say, I am flattered by your request to take part in your research. My decision always leans to 'no' because of a) time constraints and... Continue Reading →
Babies, bathwater, innovation and Gramsci…
The Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (a mouthful, I know) runs internal seminars where academics get to test out new ideas/reboot old ones and generally reflect on the direction(lessness) of travel for innovation policy, science and technology policy and much else. It can be dreadful, but when it works – and it did yesterday –... Continue Reading →
Method(ology) to my madness…
A GREAT article on methods and methodology, which I have had in the 'to read' pile finally got read during a park-walk Hyett, N. and Dickson-Swift, V. 2014. Methodology or method? A critical review of Qualitative case study reports. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being. There is SO MUCH good stuff in... 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 →
‘Courageous’ politician vs cars. Cars win. The Netherlands 1989…
So, I just read this. I haven't double-checked it yet, by the author is a damn fine journo/thinker/historian... It's from a story about an(other) attempt to reduce the damage caused by cars in Los Angeles. Last month the centre-right coalition Government of Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers came up with a comprehensive plan to keep the... Continue Reading →
#Keating and #climate – the longer Cabinet papers story
The 1992/3 Cabinet Papers have been released. The Conversation let me (I badgered them) do the article on what we learn from them about the environmental policy battles. It's posted here, and I think they did their usual excellent job editing me. Here is the full (much too long for their format) version, in case... Continue Reading →
Bateson, schismogenesis, etc and The Wire…
So, am reading about Institutional Work. And stumbled on an article that used the best television show that I ever saw ('The Wire') to talk about this and a LOT else. Not sure how I will be able to use it in The Thesis (concept of fields, relentless contestation that changes the actors - and... Continue Reading →
Books I definitely didn’t buy/get given
Chandler, A. 1977. The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business. Cambridge, Mass: The Belknap Press. [Chomsky rates this one highly. Definitely didn't buy this for 99p in Lancaster.] Fromm, E. 2003. Marx's concept of Mann. London: Continuum. [Definitely didn't buy this for 50p in Lancaster.] Lawson, N. 2008. An Appeal to Reason: A... Continue Reading →
Now THAT’s a life: Louis Herren
"When a politician tells you something in confidence, always ask yourself Why is this lying bastard lying to me?" Always good advice, I think. Louis Heren, the guy behind it, led an extra-ordinary life. And I'd never heard of him. Louis Philip Heren (6 February 1919 - 26 January 1995) was a foreign correspondent. He... Continue Reading →
All in the game, you feel me?! Academia and The Wire.
Come hell or high water, this is getting cited in The Thesis. Zundel, M., Holt, R., & Cornelissen, J. (2012). Institutional work in The Wire: An ethological investigation of flexibility in organizational adaptation. Journal of Management Inquiry, doi:10.1177/1056492612440045 Analysis of institutional work is habitually complicated by the need to combine agentic and structural features. Drawing... Continue Reading →
