Teaching for intersectionality: insights from a relational cultural perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheldene K. Simola
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Cultural Theory ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Critical Inquiry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
Practical Guidelines

Purpose This paper aims to consider the use of relational cultural theory (RCT) as an underlying, processual orientation for teaching with those who are living and learning at the intersection of multiple, marginalised identities. Design/methodology/approach The concept of intersectionality is defined, and key characteristics of intersectional approaches are described. The criticality of teaching for intersectionality-related social justice goals involving inclusion, engagement, mattering, empowerment and critical inquiry as foundations for critical praxis is identified. Consideration is given to the viability of RCT as an underlying orientation for teaching with students who live and learn at the intersection of multiple, marginalised identities. Findings RCT is consonant with key characteristics of intersectional approaches, including rejection of essentialist perspectives; recognising the roles of power in creating, maintaining and legitimising interlocking marginalisations; retaining race as a critical point of intersectional analysis and practice; recognising the validity of insights obtained from non-dominant standpoints; and working to fulfill social justice goals. Practical guidelines from RCT that support social justice goals include facilitating student voice within a context of radical respect; use of “disruptive empathy”; attending to particular experiences within the context of systemic power dynamics; using co-active “power with” versus “power over” students; relying on mutuality and fluid expertise; and reframing student resistance. Research limitations/implications This paper provides a foundational overview of the history, nature and uses of RCT as an underlying processual orientation when teaching across diverse academic disciplines for students who live and learn at the intersection of multiple marginalised identities. Detailed case studies involving the application of RCT, including those involving teacher self-reflection would be useful. Practical implications Guidelines are provided for the practical application of RCT when teaching for intersectionality across diverse academic disciplines. Social implications RCT supports the intersectionality-related social justice goals of inclusion, engagement, mattering, empowerment and critical inquiry as foundations for critical praxis. Originality/value Intersectional pedagogies have been associated with positive attitudinal, intentional and behavioural outcomes. However, despite some notable exceptions, intersectional pedagogies are still absent in most academic disciplines. This paper provides practical guidance on the use of RCT as an underlying processual orientation when teaching for intersectionality across diverse academic disciplines.

Mentoring the morally courageous: a relational cultural perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 340-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheldene Simola
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Theory ◽  
Moral Courage ◽  
Relational Cultural Theory ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Protective Behaviors ◽  
Supportive Relationships ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
Work Related

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the implications of relational cultural theory (RCT) for mentoring individuals who have enacted moral courage. Design/methodology/approach Overviews of the construct of moral courage, the nature of work-related mentoring and RCT are provided. Subsequently, the relevance and implications of RCT for understanding moral courage-related suffering, and for supporting the growth, resilience and vitality of those who have enacted moral courage are discussed. Findings Within RCT, moral courage-related suffering is located in disconnection, invalidation and isolation for which sufferers also feel held at fault. Self-protective behaviors, including disavowal of self, can perpetuate this suffering. Practical implications Five insights from RCT for supporting the growth, resilience and vitality of individuals following acts of moral courage are elaborated, including affirming efforts to activate supportive relationships; demonstrating “radical respect”; facilitating voice; engaging through mutuality and fluid expertise; and, reframing resilience. Social implications The dearth of attention to ways of supporting those who suffer following acts of moral courage reflects previously documented findings about the short-shrift given to issues of human health and sustainability in organizations and organizational research. Implications for policy, practice and education are described. Originality/value This paper extends the RCT perspective in mentoring, and addresses an important gap in the moral courage literature, namely, the identification of a theoretically grounded approach through which to support the growth, resilience and vitality of individuals who have enacted moral courage.

Relative deprivation, self-interest and social justice: why I do research on in-equality

2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 429-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eddy S.W. Ng
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Relative Deprivation ◽  
Multiple Identities ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Similar Work ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Conducting Research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer an insight into why men do research on in-equality. Design/methodology/approach – The author utilizes autoethnography, as a form of self-reflection, to help make sense of the own experiences and to connect it with the broader world. It is a narrative based on personal experiences which connects the author's biography with his research endeavours. It also enables to engage in self-analysis and self-awareness of the motives for conducting research on in-equality. Findings – In this narrative, the author shares his journey as an equality scholar, and how his multiple identities as a visible minority, an immigrant to Canada, and a gay person shapes my worldview, attitudes, and beliefs, which in turn influences his own work on equality and diversity. The narrative is based on the intersection of multiple identities, and not just solely based on the author's gender. The attribute feeling deprived on behalf of others, rational self-interest, and social justice as the chief reasons for engaging in in-equality research. Research limitations/implications – Autoethnography is inherently subjective, based upon the author's own biases and interpretation of events, but the subjectivity can also be an opportunity for intentional self-awareness and reflexivity. Given the multiple identities that the author holds, some of the experiences recounted here may be unique to the author, and some may be shared with others. Thus, it is not the author's intention to represent, in general, why men do in-equality research. Originality/value – This autoethnography has allowed the author the opportunity to be self-aware of the complexity of the multiple identities. This self-awareness also allows the author to be more respectful, authentic, and inclusive of others. The author hopes that these reflections will resonate with some of you, and perhaps inspire one to engage in similar work, for reasons that are unique to one and all.

Prescriptive Power: Biologism, Biopsychiatry and Drug-centred Psychopharmacology

Somatechnics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 291-309
Author(s):  
Francis Russell
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Cultural Theory ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
False Consciousness ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Biological Ontology ◽  
Health Discourse

This paper looks to make a contribution to the critical project of psychiatrist Joanna Moncrieff, by elucidating her account of ‘drug-centred’ psychiatry, and its relation to critical and cultural theory. Moncrieff's ‘drug-centred’ approach to psychiatry challenges the dominant view of mental illness, and psychopharmacology, as necessitating a strictly biological ontology. Against the mainstream view that mental illnesses have biological causes, and that medications like ‘anti-depressants’ target specific biological abnormalities, Moncrieff looks to connect pharmacotherapy for mental illness to human experience, and to issues of social justice and emancipation. However, Moncrieff's project is complicated by her framing of psychopharmacological politics in classical Marxist notions of ideology and false consciousness. Accordingly, she articulates a political project that would open up psychiatry to the subjugated knowledge of mental health sufferers, whilst also characterising those sufferers as beholden to ideology, and as being effectively without knowledge. Accordingly, in order to contribute to Moncrieff's project, and to help introduce her work to a broader humanities readership, this paper elucidates her account of ‘drug-centred psychiatry’, whilst also connecting her critique of biopsychiatry to notions of biologism, biopolitics, and bio-citizenship. This is done in order to re-describe the subject of mental health discourse, so as to better reveal their capacities and agency. As a result, this paper contends that, once reframed, Moncrieff's work helps us to see value in attending to human experience when considering pharmacotherapy for mental illness.

Ethnicity as inclusion and exclusion

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 1262-1269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel F. Baskerville ◽  
Kerry Jacobs ◽  
Vassili Joannides de Lautour ◽  
Jeff Sissons
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Culture Theory ◽  
Grid And Group ◽  
Group Culture ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Mary Douglas ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Accounting research has struggled with how ethnicity is to be understood in relation to concepts such as nation and nationality and how ethnicity may impact on accounting and auditing practices, behaviours, education and professional values. These themes are explored and developed in the papers presented in this special issue. In particular, the purpose of this paper is to explore the contrasting theoretical and methodological approaches reflected by the papers in the issue. Design/methodology/approach This is a reflective and analytical paper which explores how notions of ethnicity are conceived and operationalised in accounting research. The authors identified two distinctive analytic ordering processes evident within this AAAJ Special issue: Mary Douglas’ scheme of Grid and Group and the Pierre Bourdieu’s conceptual tools of field, capital and habitus. Findings The “Grid and Group” Culture Theory with Bourdieu’s theoretical tools evident in the papers provide powerful tools to explore the relationship between ethnicity and accounting both conceptually and empirically, suggesting that ethnicity can be deployed to reveal and challenge institutionalised racism. This paper highlights the potential to integrate elements of the “Grid and Group” Culture Theory and Bourdieu’s theoretical tools. The issue of ethnicity and the relationship between ethnicity and accounting should be more fruitfully explored in future. Research limitations/implications The authors acknowledge the challenges and limitations of discussing the issue of ethnicity from any particular cultural perspective and recognise the implicit dominance of White Anglo centric perspectives within accounting research. Originality/value The papers presented in the special issue illustrate that the issue of ethnicity is complex and difficult to operationalise. This paper highlights the potential to move beyond the ad hoc application of theoretical and methodological concepts to operationalise coherent concepts which challenge and extend the authors’ understanding of accounting as a social and contextual practice. But to achieve this it is necessary to more clearly integrate theory, methodology, method and critique.

Educational leadership for social justice in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Spain

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Silva ◽  
Charles L. Slater ◽  
Gema Lopez Gorosave ◽  
Victoria Cerdas ◽  
Nancy Torres ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
Educational Opportunity ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Equal Educational Opportunity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
School Directors ◽  
Leadership For Social Justice ◽  
Distribution Of Resources

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of school leaders to provide social justice in three contexts: Costa Rica, Mexico, and Spain. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study was conducted under the interpretative tradition characterized by a search for an understanding of the social world from the point of view of a school director from each of the three countries. Interviews were conducted to determine their views on social justice, the actions they took, and the obstacles they confronted. Findings The directors conceived of education as a right and believed in equal educational opportunity, and fair distribution of resources. They used a variety of methods to promote social justice, increase social cohesion, and provide emotional education. Obstacles came from educational authorities who tried to control rather than support their efforts. They were committed to working in schools with marginalized populations, but their efforts had taken a toll on their personal and professional lives. Research limitations/implications The research looked at just three principals whose experiences were unique to their context. However, the study has the advantage of looking at schools not typically included in educational research. Practical implications The work of these school directors underscores the need for preparation in skills, knowledge, and values to work for social justice. Originality/value The value of this research is to illuminate the narratives of school leaders. Working across borders can provide insights about the possibilities of change and strength to persevere.

Digital transformation of organizations: what do we know and where to go next?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Jedynak ◽  
Wojciech Czakon ◽  
Aneta Kuźniarska ◽  
Karolina Mania
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Domain

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the development of the digital transformation literature and to the systematic literature review methodology.Design/methodology/approachThe authors run a systematic literature review, followed by a rigorous thematic analysis of both academic and grey literature dataset, in order to develop a conceptual map of organizations' digital transformation. The authors aggregate the concepts and topics identified across the literature to find that they overwhelmingly tackle digital business models. At the same time, the authors identify a major blind spot resulting from ignoring the organization itself as a unit of analysis.FindingsThe findings show that developing a digital theory of the organization or the theory of digitally transformed organization is a major challenge to management researchers. The analysis exposed numerous research gaps that can be helpful for future research directions.Originality/valueDigital transformation research enjoys an increasingly rapid rise to recognition across many academic disciplines and strongly impacts the management domain. adopt the view that published documents reflect the collective understanding of a phenomenon. This paper contributes to filtering the digital transformation literature, clarify complex relation between digital transformations of organizations and identify the key blind points.

Teachers' learning in extraordinary times: shifting to a digitally facilitated approach to lesson study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
James Calleja ◽  
Patrick Camilleri
Keyword(s):  
Technology Use ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Opportunities For Learning ◽  
Study Process ◽  
The University ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe research reported in this paper brings forth the experiences of three teachers working in different schools. These teachers learned about lesson study through a course offered at the University of Malta while, at the same time, leading a lesson study with colleagues at their school. With the COVID-19 outbreak, these teachers had, out of necessity, to adopt and accommodate for their lesson study to an exclusive online approach. This paper, hence, focuses on teachers' learning as they shifted their lesson study online.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents a case study that delves into the experiences and perceptual insights that these teachers manifested in shifting to an exclusive online lesson study situation. Data collection is derived from a focus group discussion, teacher reflective entries and detailed reports documenting the lesson study process and experiences. Employing technological frames as the theoretical lens, a description-analysis-interpretation approach was employed to analyse and interpret reflections and grounded experiential perceptions that the respondents disclosed during their lesson study journey.FindingsNotwithstanding their initial discerned sense of loss and unpreparedness of being constrained to migrate lesson study to exclusive online means, teachers eventually recognised that digitally mediated collaborative practices enhanced self-reflection about the lesson study process. Therefore, the extraordinary situation that the teachers in this study experienced not only disrupted their modus operandi but also allowed them to discern new opportunities for learning about digital technology use in lesson study.Practical implicationsDisruption, brought about by unforeseen circumstances, takes teachers and professional development facilitators out of their comfort zones, invariably helping them grow out of their limitations and rethink lesson study practices.Originality/valueIntentionally driven disruptions prompt teachers to resolve their dissatisfactory situations by thinking out of the box, eventually helping them to improve their professional practices.

Justice versus Social Justice in South Africa: Quo vadis?

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marelize Isabel Schoeman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Historical Discourse ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Underlying Basis ◽  
Quo Vadis

This article explores the concept of criminal justice as a formal process in which parties are judged and often adjudged from the paradigmatic perspective of legal guilt versus legal innocence. While this function of a criminal-justice system is important – and indeed necessary – in any ordered society, a society in transition such as South Africa must question the underlying basis of justice. This self-reflection must include an overview questioning whether the criminal-justice system and its rules are serving the community as originally intended or have become a self-serving function of state in which the final pursuit is outcome-driven as opposed to process-driven. The process of reflection must invariably find its genesis in the question: ‘What is justice?’ While this rhetorical phraseology has become trite through overuse, the author submits that the question remains of prime importance when considered contemporarily but viewed through the lens of historical discourse in African philosophy. In essence, the question remains unanswered. Momentum is added to this debate by the recent movement towards a more human rights and restorative approach to justice as well as the increased recognition of traditional legal approaches to criminal justice. This discussion is wide and in order to delimit its scope the author relies on a Socratically influenced method of knowledge-mining to determine the philosophical principles underpinning the justice versus social justice discourse. It is proposed that lessons learned from African philosophies about justice and social justice can be integrated into modern-day justice systems and contribute to an ordered yet socially oriented approach to justice itself.

Human resource practitioners as sexual harassment commissioners: Sisyphus amid gender inequalities

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shani Kuna ◽  
Ronit Nadiv
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Academic Education ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Human Resource Practitioners ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences

PurposeThere has been ample research on the antecedents and consequences of workplace sexual harassment (WSH), a volatile issue in contemporary labor markets. There is, however, a lingering gap in the scholarly literature regarding the organizational practices involved in contending with WSH incidents following their occurrence. By exploring the practices and challenges of sexual harassment commissioners, a mandatory role performed by Israeli human resource practitioners, this study aims to unpack the embedded power dynamics, which construct how WSH is both deciphered and handled within organizations.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 sexual harassment commissioners (SHCs) in various business organizations in Israel to explore practitioners' conceptions of the challenges underlying their role. A grounded theory approach was utilized.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that, while SHCs seemingly are empowered by their exclusive authority to inquire into an intricate organizational matter, counter practices have emerged to undermine their authority and influence. This negatively affects their ability to reduce the prevalence of WSH. SHCs' attempts to approach WSH utilizing a power discourse are eroded by systematic barriers that channel them toward adoption of the default legal discourse. The latter frames WSH in terms of individual misconduct rather than as a phenomenon stemming from and expressive of organizational and societal gender inequalities.Research limitations/implicationsThis study does not represent the voices of WSH complainants or of top executives. The data focused on SHCs' descriptions of their role challenges.Practical implicationsImplications are suggested regarding the academic education and training of SHCs.Originality/valueThis study sheds light on covert and unspoken barriers to gender equality in the labor market.

The emergence of entrepreneurial team as a research field – way forward

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Willy Das ◽  
Satyasiba Das ◽  
Manojit Chattopadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Research Agenda ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Entrepreneurial Team ◽  
Research Stream

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review and critique the existing literature on entrepreneurial teams (ET) by taking a multi-disciplinary viewpoint and provide a future research agenda based on the identified themes and trends.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review (SLR) was undertaken using “business source complete”. Further scrutiny and application of exclusion criteria led to a final sample consisting of 139 papers from 27 different journals belonging to not just entrepreneurship and strategic management but also other disciplines like OB, finance, sociology, psychology, etc. Using qualitative thematic analysis, the authors identified 11 major themes.FindingsThe paper reviews both the eleven themes and the linkages between the themes. Thereby identifying areas that have been understudied and those that have received comparatively more attention. The review revealed that the research stream possesses certain conceptual and methodological concerns apart from its cross-sectional and primarily bivariate nature. Five such main concerns have been identified and discussed in detail. Other elements of the resulting research agenda include calls for more clinical process-oriented research, further attention to context, shifting the level of analysis, and a need to integrate across disciplines.Originality/valueThis paper incorporates a broad insight of ET across academic disciplines to show how future contributions could benefit by incorporating research from other fields. In doing so, provides a starting point for more nuanced discussions around the interrelationships between the different conversations that are taking place in the ET literature.

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