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To defend the thesis that the base-superstructure hypothesis central to Marxist theory is also central paradigm of the tradition of Critical Theory. This is in opposition to those who see this hypothesis as determinist and eliminating the possibilities for the autonomy of social action. In doing so, it is able to retard and atrophy the critical capacities of subjects.

Emphasis on the return to a structural-functionalist understanding of social processes that places this version of Critical Theory against the more domesticated forms that consider “discourse ethics” and an “ethic of recognition” as the normative research program for Critical Theory. Also, an analysis of the purpose and logic of functional arguments and their relation to Marx’s concept of “determination” is undertaken.

The essence of Critical Theory hinges upon the ways that social structures are able to deform and shape structures of consciousness of modern subjects to predispose them to forms of domination and to view the prevailing hierarchical structures of extractive domination as legitimate in some basic sense.

The foundations of Critical Theory need to be rooted in a renewed understanding of the relation between social structure and forms of consciousness. This means a move beyond theories of social practices into the realm of social epistemology as well as the mechanisms of consciousness and their relation to ideology.

Few analyses of the relation between the base and the superstructure or material organization of society and the social-epistemological layer of consciousness delineate the mechanisms involved in shaping consciousness. I undertake an analysis that utilizes insights from the philosophy of mind such as the theory of intentionality as well as the sociological approach to values through Parsons.

Robert J Antonio's ‘Climate Change, the Resource Crunch, and the Global Growth Imperative’ is an excellent starting point for examining the dominance of the ideology of ‘economic growth’ within contemporary societies and social thinking against the background of the growing and profound socio-ecological crises such as climate change, resource scarcity and rampant consumerism. His article integrates contemporary scientific evidence about climate change and the ecological devastation being wrought by contemporary patterns of globalised carbon-fuelled and climate changing capitalism with classical and contemporary sociological theorising and calls for a greater engagement of social theorising with these defining challenges of the 21st century. In particular, Antonio's article begins the process of sociological theory re-engaging and re-interpreting classical sociology (Weber, Durkheim, Mead and Dewey) to develop forms of social theorising, which overcome a simplistic nature–cultural dualism and can equip critical social theory as fit for purpose for analysing the ecological, climate and resource ‘crunches’ facing all societies in the 21st century.

In several previous papers, the present author has examined Marx's view of the future, post‐capitalist society, but without systematic consideration of moral or ethical issues (Elliott, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1986; Elliott and Scott, 1986). In recent papers, moral and ethical dimensions of Marx's critique of capitalist society have been studied (Elliott, 1986a, 1987). This article endeavours to link and synthesise these two lines of inquiry by expressly identifying moral and ethical aspects of Marx's vision of the future society and connecting those considerations to his socio‐economic and socio‐historical perspective on capitalism.

The objective of this article is to develop and describe a conceptual framework of sustainable leadership ethics.

The paper provides a description of the inputs, actions and outputs of sustainable leadership ethics.

Sustainable leadership ethics is a process. In addition, it is continuous and iterative. The inputs, actions and outputs construct the dynamics of this continuous process.

The conceptual framework aspires to be highly dynamic. The ultimate outcome is dependent upon the evolution of time and contexts. It is also dependent upon and provides reference to the behaviours and perceptions of people. It provides guidance on what and how to address sustainable leadership ethics in research. It provides a descriptive framework.

The framework proposes sustainable leadership ethics to be a continuous and an iterative process. There is no actual end of the process, but a constant reconnection to the initiation of successive process iterations of the sustainable leadership ethics. The conceptual framework also provides guidance on what and how to address sustainable leadership ethics in practice. It serves as a managerial framework.

It contributes to create a structure for sustainable leadership ethics in both research and practice.

Educational technologists make significant contributions to the development, organisational embedding and service provision of technology‐enhanced learning (TEL) environments, which are key enablers for mass access to flexible higher education (HE). Given the increasing centrality of this role, it is advocated that institutions investigate sustainable career structures for educational technologists. This paper aims to address these issues.

The arguments are evidence‐driven by the small body of research literature describing the role of educational technologists and contextualized by the experiences as academics and leaders of TEL projects in HE, including managing educational technologists.

The roles of educational technologists are very diverse, requiring competencies in educational leadership, both management and technical. Their career paths, backgrounds, legitimate powers and organisational locations exhibit considerable variation.

University leaders require evidence to formulate appropriate human resource strategies and performance management strategies for educational technologists. Further empirical research to analyze current issues and future trajectories relating to their aspirations, career structures, legitimate power, management and organisational contexts is proposed.

Given the strategic importance of educational technologists to information and communications technology‐driven transformation, university leaders will require evidence to formulate appropriate human resource and performance management strategies for these key academic‐related/professional staff. This paper brings together relevant literature for the first time, generates recommendations for further research and policy discussion.

The purpose of this paper is to provide reflections on business ethics in the 25-year window from 1992-2017, and to then seek to examine some of the concerns for the future of which we all need to be cognizant.

The paper represents the reflections of a now retired academic who spent the period from 1992 to 2017 researching in the area of business ethics.

In the world of commerce, we are still seeing the same alleged behaviours by corporations from developed economies that have dogged business for so long. Have we moved forward and how far have we moved are difficult to determine.

The paper is based on the reflections on 25 years of research in the area of international business ethics. The limitation is that the paper is based on the experiences of one academic.

The paper points to considerations that are required if the field of business ethics is to move forward in a positive manner.

The paper looks at many of the pertinent issues facing the field of commerce in respect to business ethics now and into our foreseeable future.

The Mondragon cooperatives are the most thoroughly studied and well-known example of worker cooperatives in the world. Yet while there has been much discussion and wide recognition of the empirical growth of the Mondragon co-ops, there is substantial confusion about the lessons we can draw from this case in thinking about workplace democracy more broadly.

The normative and empirical literature on Mondragon is carefully analyzed to draw out the main implications from this case study for the broader issue of workplace democracy.

I contend that Mondragon teaches us two main lessons. First, that workplace democracy can indeed operate in a way that is economically sustainable and socially superior to conventional firms. Second, Mondragon sheds light on the question of whether co-ops are doomed to degenerate.

This paper advances our understanding and conceptualization of workplace democracy.

This paper provides practitioners with an up-to-date and comprehensive analysis of the world’s most successful cooperative network.

This paper provides insight into the practical feasibility and normative desirability of alternative organizations of workplaces in the form of worker cooperatives.

This paper will be of particular interest to scholars and activists interested in democratic alternatives to conventional hierarchical firms by illustrating the strengths and weaknesses of the Mondragon cooperatives and drawing out the lessons that this specific yet influential example has for issues of workplace democracy more broadly.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of green community entrepreneurship in the social economy by studying creative responses among environmental non‐profit organizations to an external fiscal shock.

A total of 12 managers of environmental non‐profit organizations were interviewed to identify and classify their responses to a single external fiscal shock. These organizations are connected by a social capital network, their national association, Green Communities Canada. The social economy and ecological economics literatures are reviewed to construct a definition of green community entrepreneurship. Interview respondents identified factors which facilitate this process.

The need for green community entrepreneurship was driven by two interrelated issues (a loss of external government funding, and an associated market collapse for residential energy audits), and facilitated by three main factors (external social capital network flows, internal human capital stocks, and strategic partnerships).

Future research should examine other social economy organizations to determine if the dynamics discovered here are unique to green community organizations delivering climate change programs or apply more generally. Policy implications include the potential for joint project creation and investment utilizing green community entrepreneurship to integrate social and ecological economy objectives.

A new conceptual framework for green community entrepreneurship is developed.

The purpose of this paper is to challenge the assumptions prominent in the Anglo-American context that the objective of a business is to increase its profits and that managers have to make “the business case” to implement environmentally sounder solutions or other sustainability considerations into their business decisions. The paper argues that these assumptions are not presented as a human construction or agreement, instead they are treated as though they are a given, a prerequisite to a business system. By comparing qualitative statements in a cross-cultural study, the paper highlights different ways in which economic rationality could be conceptualised.

Habermas’ (1984) framework of instrumental and communicative reason has been used to analyse the accounts of German and British managers in the Food Retail and Energy Sector.

Only the British managers “make the business case” when dealing with environmental problems. German managers use a different instrumental reason from that applied by British managers; they would argue that cost-intensive environmental improvements can be made as long as the survival of the company is not at risk.

The study challenges the perceived objectiveness of the “business case”, which has strong implications for the theoretical and practical application of Business Administration in the British context and beyond. Furthermore the paper suggests that new conceptualisations of “economic rationality” might help to better solve sustainability challenges.

Practical application of Habermas framework to question underlying assumptions in the business discourse about environmental issues.