Publications

Nonprofits as Schools for Democracy: The Justifications for Organisational Democracy within Nonprofit Organisations
Nonprofit organizations are often claimed to be schools of democracy: “that produce citizens able and ready to participate in society” (Dodge & Ospina, 2016, p. 479). This claim is predicated the external role nonprofits play in producing democracy, particularly by engendering civic

Organizational Readiness – Culturally Mediated Learning Through Disney Animation
We develop the notion of organizational readiness, a construct that describes the anticipatory expectations about future organizational life that children develop as they absorb the cultural influences to which they are exposed. We conduct our analyses through an exploration of the depictions

Whistle While You Work? Disney Animation, Organisational Readiness and Gendered Subjugation
This paper introduces the concept of ‘organizational readiness’: socio-cultural expectations about working selves that prepare young people (albeit indirectly and in complex and multi-faceted ways) for their future life in organizations. This concept emerges from an analysis of Disney animations and how

Non-Domination, Contestation and Freedom: The Contribution of Philip Pettit to Learning and Democracy in Organisations
This article provides a reading of the civic republican ideas of the political philosopher Philip Pettit in order to make new contributions to learning within organisational life. Our aim is to achieve non-domination in the workplace, and we suggest how Pettit’s work,

Doing Free Jazz and Free Organizations, “A Certain Experience of the Impossible”? Ornette Coleman Encounters Jacques Derrida
The French philosopher Jacques Derrida has had a profound influence on many areas of organization theory over the last twenty years; not something that could be said about the jazz musician, Ornette Coleman (a central figure in the Free jazz movement). Derrida

Culture, Community and Cognition: A Vygotskian Foundation for a Republican Approach to Deliberative Democracy
Modern accounts of deliberative democracy have predominantly been defended from within the liberal tradition. The first generation of deliberative theorists, John Rawls, Jurgen Habermas and Amy Gutmann, all approached this subject from a philosophically liberal perspective. Those that followed them and built

Raised aspirations and attainment? A review of the impact of Aimhigher (2004–2011) on widening participation in higher education in England
Aimhigher was discontinued on 31 July 2011. This paper reviews the literature analysing its contribution to widening participation to higher education in the UK. Successes of Aimhigher are considered alongside its challenges; particularly the necessity to situate policy within the diverse demands

Deliberative Democracy and Emotional Intelligence- An Internal Mechanism to Regulate the Emotions
Deliberative democracy, it is claimed, is essential for the legitimisation of public policy and law. It is built upon an assumption that citizens will be capable of constructing and defending reasons for their moral and political beliefs. However, critics of deliberative democracy

Motivating Reflective Citizens: Deliberative Democracy and the Internal Deliberative Virtues
Deliberative democracy involves the consideration and justification of the various reasons on which we base political decisions.1 It is a political framework by which citizens can discuss their beliefs and values and through deliberation find common ground on the important issues which

Developing Deliberative Minds- Piaget, Vygotsky and the Deliberative Democratic Citizen
The Piagetian account of development has been extremely influential in the deliberative democ- racy literature. It has been either explicitly or implicitly assumed by the majority of theorists working in this area. It encourages deliberative democrats to make at least four key

Deliberative Minds: Skills, Virtues and Emotional Intelligence of the Deliberative Democratic Citizen
Over the past two decades deliberative models of democracy have become increasingly popular. There is a growing acceptance that citizens should have the opportunity to directly shape the laws and policies that govern their lives. It is hoped that increased deliberation will