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Responsiveness in the evolving landscape of work: an edgewalker’s tale
No full textThis doctoral thesis critically examines the evolution of the writer’s professional practice in organisation development and consulting, focusing on the evolving landscape of work. Using a transdisciplinary methodology, the thesis integrates autoethnography, intuitive inquiry, and hermeneutics to analyse the interplay between personal experience, professional agency, and theoretical frameworks. The thesis explores responsiveness to socio-technological disruption and change, organised around three public works spanning pre-pandemic, pandemic, and post-pandemic periods. These works include a healthcare system change consulting skills programme, a book on designing transformative virtual spaces, and a second book on emerging work paradigms through the writer’s own concept of Omni-Working.
The critique is structured around three core themes: transformative spaces, use of self, and systemic approaches. Transformative spaces are conceptualised as physical/virtual, relational and psychologically safe environments that foster emergent change through dialogic-informed approaches. The concept of ‘Use of Self’ is explored through the dimensions of presence, potency, and relational responsiveness. Systemic approaches integrate hard and soft systems methodologies, drawing on complexity theories and social constructionist perspectives to interpret organisational dynamics.
The insights reveal the importance of professional identity work in liminal spaces, proposing edgewalking as a method for engaging with uncertainty and ambiguity in organisational contexts. The concept of responsive wayfaring contributes to understanding how practitioners navigate complexity while guiding others to co-create adaptive pathways. The critique makes four principal contributions to knowledge: (1) an expanded understanding of transformative spaces as gateways to transformation, (2) a reframing of use of self, extending its relevance into leadership discourse through the interplay of inner and outer work and relational intelligence, (3) a systemic approach to organisational responsiveness that integrates systems and systemic thinking to navigate complexity, and (4) frameworks bridging organisation development with the future of work to design meaningful human-centred workplaces. These contributions enhance both academic discourse and OD practice, offering fresh perspectives on leadership and transformation in the context of organisational change within the evolving landscape of work
Nuclear destabilisation – a possible genesis of cancer?
Get PDFThis review examines the increasingly prominent role of mechanics within cancer formation and progression. The extremely varied and contradictory genetic landscape of cancer is in stark contrast to the seemingly universal mechanical characteristics of cancer cells and their tumour microenvironment, and mechanics may be a principal unifying trait of this disease. The tight regulation of innate cell mechanical properties raises the possibility that destabilisation of the cell drives tumour formation in an attempt to restore cell mechanical homeostasis. With losses in cell stiffness more pronounced at the cell nucleus, we hypothesise that destabilisation occurs within the nucleus, likely within the nucleosome. Beyond the mechanical properties of the cell, this compromise to the chromatin structure holds significant repercussions for both genetic and epigenetic regulation, providing scope for significant genetic dysregulation and mutation. However, the nature of such genetic events will be dependent upon the region of mechanical destabilisation; thus, introducing greater variability and heterogeneity to genetic changes. We conclude with the hypothesis that cancer has a mechanical genesis, in which cell nuclear destabilisation functions as the enabling hallmark of cancer. It is theorised that both genetic and structural dysfunction stem from this nuclear destabilisation, driving disease pathology and progression
Spiritual consumption
Get PDFSpiritual consumption describes the behaviors and processes in which people engage when consuming products, services, and places for spiritual reasons/ends. Whereas William James referred to the “varieties of religious experiences”, more recent work looks at the “varieties of spiritual experiences”, demonstrating the role and importance of spirituality in and across societies. Indeed, with approximately 60% to 80% of people worldwide adhering to some sort of spiritual or religious belief according to IPSOS’s 2023 Global Religion survey across 26 countries, spiritual consumption holds considerable importance for consumer research
Lessons from adopting a competency-based assessment approach for an introductory programming module
Get PDFA major challenge to teaching and assessing a first year undergraduate programming module is that students arrive with different prior programming experience. We address this problem by adopting a competencies-based assessment approach for narrowing the learning gap for less experienced students while still challenging those with more experience. Students can work at different paces and their progress is monitored real-time, allowing for early intervention. We share lessons learned and provide tips to help educators implement this in their modules
Exploring social innovation for transforming food systems
Get PDFTo achieve transformation in food systems, there is a need for social change and innovation in how people grow, trade and consume food. This paper explores how the concept of social innovation can help understand the processes of developing novel solutions that potentially contribute to transforming food systems for health and sustainability. Drawing on a set of case studies in the UK, our analysis shows that food system social innovation is found in: place-based initiatives such as community hubs, cafes and therapeutic growing space; supply chains and food access for social justice and sustainability; and food behaviour change activities that alter consumption and purchasing. We also identify key social innovation processes, including collaborative partnerships for co-learning and developing solutions, developing alternative social enterprise business models and engaging with policy and institutional change. Challenges facing social innovation are identified, along with processes for scaling up impact on food systems
Housing as care: building recovery pathways for homeless women with severe mental illness
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Who Cares conversations
No full textSeries of images for exhibition.
Angela Woodhouse (dance artist) and Caroline Broadhead (visual artist) with dance screen artist/ camera operator Dominique Rivoal.
This project is undertaken with Aintree Hospital. It represents a strand of the ongoing project Who Cares. The residency offered an opportunity for medical staff to meet with artist Angela Woodhouse and reflect on how the sense of touch is integral to their work. If they wished, they could talk about how their experiences of touch had changed and adapted in response to the Pandemic. In addition, individuals were invited to consider a gesture of touch that could be recorded using a thermal camera. Each individual considered how they wished to create their own ‘heat signature’.
The exhibits are selected screenshots of the films. The heat signature is an infra-red image - for example of a pose or body movement, or a heat mark left on an object - which a participant feels says something important to them or about them.
Each person received a copy of an image selected from their video
Psychoanalytic film theory: a contemporary introduction
No full textPsychoanalysis is fundamental to how we think about cinema. From the Surrealists and Maya Deren to David Lynch and Christopher Nolan, dream and screen have been inextricably linked, while psychoanalytic theory played a vital role in establishing Film Studies as an academic discipline.
Psychoanalytic Film Theory will allow the reader to grasp the complex intellectual history of this mutual fascination, become familiar with its principal figures and understand its central concepts, while appreciating its entanglements with contemporary Marxist, feminist, queer, postcolonial and critical race theory. With groundbreaking theorists such as Joan Copjec, Todd McGowan, Laura Mulvey, Jacqueline Rose, and Slavoj Žižek, this book explores five key themes – dream, identification, difference, object, and ideology – that represent the major insights and accomplishments of psychoanalytic film theory. The discussion is developed through the work of filmmakers such as Andrea Arnold, Joanna Hogg, Boots Riley, Celine Sciamma, and Wong Kar Wai to present an introduction to psychoanalytic film theory in contemporary context.
This introduction offers a resource for anyone with a psychoanalytic orientation who wants to consider the moving image in detail, and a view of the intellectual life of psychoanalysis outside the clinic where Film Studies has been responsible for a broader dissemination of Freudian and Lacanian ideas. It will also provide media scholars with a fresh perspective on psychoanalytic thinking, countering prevailing attitudes that its moment has passed to demonstrate that the time for psychoanalytic film theory is only just beginning
Experiences of Brazilian professional women with kinky hair in the workplace
No full textPrejudicial treatment based on physical traits associated with African heritage – such as skin color, nose shape, lip size, and hair texture – is widespread in Brazil. These episodes occur across personal and professional domains and reflect what scholars term mark-racism, a form of discrimination based on visible phenotypic traits. Despite extensive research on racism in Brazil and internationally, little attention has been paid to discrimination targeting phenotypic characteristics in workplace settings. In this study, we explore the experiences of Black women with kinky hair in professional settings, situating these within the intersecting influences of family, community, and workplace cultures adopting an interpretative approach through in-depth interviews and thematic analysis. Three themes emerged: (1) racial identity (re)construction: empowering a ‘new professional’; (2) social groups: collectively forging this ‘new professional’; and (3) negotiating workplace tensions regarding hair. Together, these reveal ongoing processes of identity (re)construction with direct implications for workplace experiences. Although interviewees reported receiving support, they also recognized tensions related to their phenotypic traits, often adopting non-reaction to hostility as a strategy of self-preservation. These findings link processes of identity formation and mark-racism to everyday organizational experiences, offering insights relevant to both Brazilian and global debates on race and work
Consumer acceptance and use of online charity shops in the UK
No full textThis thesis explores the factors influencing consumer acceptance and use of online charity shops in the United Kingdom. The study extends the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) by replacing the Price Value construct with Perceived Value and incorporating three additional constructs: Altruistic Motivation, Need for Autonomy, and Need for Relatedness, derived from Self-Determination Theory (SDT). The research provides an understanding of behavioural intention (BI) and use behaviour (UB) within the emerging context of online charity shopping, contributing both theoretically and practically to the fields of consumer behaviour and charity sector (third sector).
Drawing on a conceptual framework informed by UTAUT2 and SDT, the study employed a quantitative research design, collecting data through an online survey distributed to a diverse sample of UK consumers. Structural equation modelling (SEM) using AMOS v28 was utilised to test hypotheses and assess relationships between variables. The measurement and structural models demonstrated strong fit indices (e.g., CFI = 0.980 for the CFA model, RMSEA = 0.045), indicating robust validation of the constructs and model.
Key findings reveal that Performance Expectancy (PE), Effort Expectancy (EE), Facilitating Conditions (FC), Social Influence (SI), Hedonic Motivation (HM), Perceived Value (PV), Altruistic Motivation (AM), and Need for Relatedness (NR) all have significant positive effects on Behavioural Intention (BI). Additionally, Facilitating Conditions (FC) and Behavioural Intention (BI) significantly influence Use Behaviour (UB). However, Habit (HT) and Need for Autonomy (NA) do not exhibit significant effects on BI or UB, suggesting that these factors may be less relevant in the altruistic and context-specific domain of online charity shopping. The thesis concludes by addressing the limitations of the research and offering valuable contributions to academia and policy makers