The Enactment of Power within Strategic Interactions: A Saudi Arabian Case Study

This thesis contributes to the field of strategy-as-practice by developing understanding of the enacted performance of power within strategic interactions, an area that is underdeveloped. This is addressed by voicing the silences within the field of strategy-as-practice using an organisational studies lens. The study investigates the macro-influences of power, gender, body, culture, and Westernisation on micro-strategising activities and is based on an empirical cross-cultural study of a Saudi Arabian business college. The strategy-as-practice approach faces the challenge of balancing a focus on the specified actions of individuals and remaining aware of the social influences that govern them. This study complements linguistic approaches to understanding strategy with an embodied socially enacted dramaturgical approach to strategy analysis. Dramaturgy is the theoretical and methodological framework used to focus on micro-face-to-face interactions of strategists, complemented by frame analysis which enables invistigation of macro-level aspects of analysis at the meso-organisational level. The analysis focuses on two main areas: first it explores the embodied gendered aspects of strategising, which have previously been marginalised within the field. This analysis shows how the doing and undoing of gender on a managerial level in mixed-gender strategic interactions reflects the values that govern the family context, maintaining traditional values and often constraining women from assuming active roles as participants in strategising. Second, it analyses the tensions that arise between the clash of modernity and tradition by the adoption of international/Western management practices. These institutional influences create conflicts within strategists’ scripts when tradition encounters modernity in confronting a significant aspect of the Arab struggle. This analysis focuses on the importance of adopting a multi-level of analysis that aknowledges both structure and agency within strategising contexts. It also considers the importance of adopting a different type of ethics that is more sensitive to the particularities of caring for the ‘other’

Special issue introduction: New research directions and critical perspectives on diaspora strategies

10.1016/j.geoforum.2014.12.006Geoforum59153-15

The new trans-national politics of LGBT human rights in the Commonwealth: what can UK NGOs learn from the global South?

How should struggles for decriminalisation, human rights and equality in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity be taken forward? The chapter discusses this issue in a context where the British Empire’s legal legacy of criminalisation persists in most Commonwealth states. The chapter examines contemporary relationships between activisms in Britain and in those states, in the context of colonialism, imperialism and sexual nationalisms. The new London-based transnational politics of decriminalisation is analysed, led by NGOs such as Kaleidoscope, Human Dignity Trust, Peter Tatchell Foundation and Stonewall - increasingly seeking influence through the Commonwealth. The chapter then compares findings from this analysis of UK-based NGOs to themes from the findings of previous cross-national comparative analysis of struggles in Commonwealth states, and hence argues that UK activists have much to learn from the Global South. For example, African activists have criticised moves to link LGBT human rights to British development aid. Caribbean activists emphasise that regional international strategising existed prior to London-based transnational legal interventions; and the Voices Against 377 coalition in India suggests much to learn about innovative formation of alliances among social movements. The chapter thus presents a critical analysis of the new London-based transnational politics of LGBT human rights

What next for power analysis? : a review of recent experience with the Powercube and related frameworks

The Working Paper aims to contribute to a growing pool of experience of applying power analysis for improving social activism and organisational practice. Over the last decade, an increasing number of practitioners, researchers, NGOs, trusts and development agencies have introduced power frameworks and methods of power analysis into processes of context analysis, programme development and monitoring and evaluation. Power has been examined and addressed in relation to a vast range of development, human rights and social justice issues from women’s empowerment to economic justice and from local governance to HIV/AIDS. Power analysis processes have taken place from the UK to Colombia and from Indonesia to Sierra Leone with much innovation in methods and approaches for introducing ways of examining power with community members, grassroots leaders, NGO staff and donors. This practice paper brings together in a single review documented experiences of applying power analysis for social change. The paper draws emerging lessons from this growing stream of practice by looking across the actors, organisations and methodologies involved in power analysis in a diverse range of contexts and issues. It reviews a significant number of case studies, reports and other documents with particular emphasis on the Powercube framework and related concepts, and provides reflections on the usefulness of these power frameworks and concepts in relation to four areas of application: 1) context analysis; 2) strategy and action; 3) monitoring and evaluation; and 4) facilitation and learning. It further aims to facilitate learning and sharing both between experienced practitioners and new-comers to power analysis and to this end, it provides an annotated list and table of all documents reviewed. Finally, the paper highlights some challenges lying ahead for power analysis and invites the reader to contest emerging lessons and embark on new explorations from which more nuanced and contextualised reflections will emerge. Keywords: Powercube, power analysis, context analysis, strategy and programming, facilitating and learning, empowerment strategies, social chang

The political economy of education systems in conflict-affected contexts

This report is a rigorous literature review on the political economy of education systems in conflict-affected contexts and is aimed at education advisers and agencies, development practitioners and Ministry of Education policy makers working in conflict-affected contexts. The report seeks to provide theoretically informed and policy relevant insights on the global, national and local governance of education systems in conflict-affected contexts garnered from a rigorous review of the academic and policy literature on the political economy of education in conflict-affected contexts. The review was driven by three main questions: (1) What are the underpinning assumptions of the main bodies of political economy research in education and conflict? (2) What can the political economy of education literature since 1990 inform us about educational change and reform in conflict-affected contexts? (3) What are the strengths, weaknesses, blind spots and research gaps in the political economy of education literature exploring the governance of educational change and reform in conflict-affected contexts? Chapter 1 outlines the rationale and aims of the review. Chapter 2, describes the theoretical and conceptual framework and presents the framing of the key issues under review, and Chapter 3 outlines the review methodology. Chapter 4 presents the main characteristics and an assessment of the quality of the studies selected for the in-depth review, and Chapter 5, discusses the review’s main findings. Chapter 6 presents the conclusions of the study, outlines a theory of change that emerges from the findings and draws out the policy insights and research gaps for future study

The Political Economy of Education Systems in Conflict-Affected Contexts: A Rigorous Literature Review

This report is a rigorous literature review on the political economy of education systems in conflict-affected contexts and is aimed at education advisers and agencies, development practitioners and Ministry of Education policy makers working in conflict-affected contexts. The report seeks to provide theoretically informed and policy relevant insights on the global, national and local governance of education systems in conflict-affected contexts garnered from a rigorous review of the academic and policy literature on the political economy of education in conflict-affected contexts.<p></p> The review was driven by three main questions: (1) What are the underpinning assumptions of the main bodies of political economy research in education and conflict? (2) What can the political economy of education literature since 1990 inform us about educational change and reform in conflict-affected contexts? (3) What are the strengths, weaknesses, blind spots and research gaps in the political economy of education literature exploring the governance of educational change and reform in conflict-affected contexts?<p></p> Chapter 1 outlines the rationale and aims of the review. Chapter 2, describes the theoretical and conceptual framework and presents the framing of the key issues under review, and Chapter 3 outlines the review methodology. Chapter 4 presents the main characteristics and an assessment of the quality of the studies selected for the in-depth review, and Chapter 5, discusses the review’s main findings. Chapter 6 presents the conclusions of the study, outlines a theory of change that emerges from the findings and draws out the policy insights and research gaps for future study

Power and Empowerment Meet Resistance: A Critical, Action- Oriented Review of the Literature

This article reviews recent literature relating resistance studies to power studies, seeking insights that can be applied by change practitioners and social activists. Starting by critically revisiting the purpose and evolution of power analysis with the hindsight that comes from two decades of scholarship and practice, it shows how the transformative potential of power analysis is currently constrained in important respects. The coverage of power theory in the resistance literature is found to be promising but patchy. Agency-based, coercive and wilful versions of power as ‘power over’ tend – with noteworthy exceptions – to be more accessible and tractable to power and resistance scholars and strategists alike than the less accessible structuralist and post-structuralist versions of power as norms, culture and discourse, or processes of structuration. The article therefore proposes a broader framing of power analysis, and makes a start at extending its application beyond strategising for empowerment to strategising for resistance

Literature review on the dynamics of social movements in fragile and conflict-affected states

This literature review assesses the available academic and policy-oriented literature on social movements in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. It examines who becomes involved in collective action and why, the barriers to mobilisation and, where social movements do emerge, how these are able to sustain mobilisation and broaden their membership base to reflect the interests of the wider community. Evidence from this review suggests the importance of considering the interplay of movement activity and state stability, and of taking into account existing state-society relationships. Donors could focus on creating a supportive environment for social movements

Responsibility and the modern corporation

Corporate governance crises as well as human rights issues in global value chains have pushed notions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Corporate Citizenship (CC), Triple P (People, Planet, Profit) and sustainable development onto the agenda of corporations and into the discussion of corporate governance. However, it has been argued that the CSR debate tends to rest on rather underspecified conceptions of the public corporation and corporate governance