Academic literature on the topic 'Organised hypocrisy'

PurposeThis study aims to examine biodiversity reporting by South African food producers and retailers. It not only draws attention to the disconnect between reporting on an important environmental issue and the sense of commitment to environmental responsibility, but also shows that over time, organisations are becoming more proactive about biodiversity reporting.Design/methodology/approachThe research uses a content analysis of sustainability and integrated reports and organised hypocrisy as a theoretical framework for analysing biodiversity-related disclosures.FindingsConsistent with an organised hypocrisy framework, the research finds that the several companies rely on corporate reporting to emphasise actions and internal management strategies that are already producing favourable results. In contrast, mission statements, firm policy commitments and forward-looking analysis are avoided. There is, however, evidence to suggest that the gaps between corporate reporting and action may be giving companies the time to reform their practices, align biodiversity disclosures with genuine corporate action and move towards truly integrated business models.Research limitations/implicationsPoor biodiversity reporting raises questions about the extent to which companies are managing serious environmental issues that can have a direct impact on their business models. Improvements in biodiversity reporting also suggest that corporate reporting is maturing and that some organisations are beginning to understand the need for managing their biodiversity impact.Originality/valueThe paper offers empirical evidence on how the disconnect between organisational rhetoric and action is used to manage stakeholder expectations and negate the need for environmental reforms. In this manner, organised hypocrisy is framed as a specific legitimisation strategy. The research also shows that organised hypocrisy is not absolute; despite the opportunity to engage in organised hypocrisy, some companies are taking a more proactive approach to biodiversity reporting. As a result, it may be appropriate to see organised hypocrisy as part of a transition to higher quality integrated or sustainability reporting.

This article examines the implications of the 9/11 attacks and the US-led ‘global war on terror’ for debates about state sovereignty. To support its attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq, the Bush administration put forth a ‘selective sovereignty’ thesis that would legitimise intervention in states that are accused of supporting terrorists. This new rationale for intervention was paradoxically justified as a means of ensuring a ‘well-ordered world of sovereign states’, which had been imperilled by transnational terrorist networks. This article argues that the ‘selective sovereignty’ thesis exaggerates the challenge posed by terrorist organisations to Westphalian sovereignty, and understates the US's own unprincipled violation of its core norm of non-intervention. A related argument of this article is that on the face of it, the ‘selective sovereignty’ approach fits the notion of ‘organised hypocrisy’ put forward by Stephen Krasner, which refers to ‘the presence of long-standing norms [in this case non-intervention] that are frequently violated’ for the sake of some ‘higher principles’ – violations that are generally tolerated by the international community. But the higher principles evoked by the US to justify its war on Iraq, such as the human rights of the Iraqis, and democracy promotion in the Middle East, are now clearly seen to have been a façade to mask the geopolitical and ideological underpinnings of the invasion. In this sense, the war on terror has revived national security and naked self-interest as the principal rationale for intervention, notwithstanding the self-serving efforts by some Bush administration officials to ‘graft’ the ‘selective sovereignty’ thesis on to the evolving humanitarian intervention principle. This policy framework is hypocrisy for sure, but as the international response to the war on Iraq (including the lack of UN authorisation for the war and the transatlantic discord it generated) demonstrates, it should be viewed more as a case of ‘disorganised hypocrisy’.

How does normative change occur in international organisations (IOs)? The literature has theorised IO behaviour as being a consequence of the interest of powerful states, or has applied concepts borrowed from organisational sociology related to bureaucratic dysfunction, such as ‘dysfunctional behaviour’, ‘pathologies’, or ‘organised hypocrisy’. This article argues that using the sociology of professions can augment constructivist theorising of IO behaviour and offer a better understanding of normative change in IOs. The evolving norm of ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P) has a significant impact on how the UN supports and intervenes in member states, and on the core principle of sovereignty in the international system. By examining the R2P concept and process, this article shows how key donor states, think tanks, and academic institutions have, together with the UN, pushed for R2P, effectively driving normative change in the international system. Such change is seen not solely as a top–down function of state interests, but as also a bottom–up process driven by advocacy and support from key donor states, think tanks, and academic circles. Further, for grasping how norms develop, a constructivist framework influenced by the sociology of professions appears better suited than existing constructivist frameworks.

Allan Pinkerton (1819–1884) has a conflicted legacy. To some, the founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency (PNDA) pioneered law and order on the American frontier, upheld principles of racial equality, and prepared the way for better public police forces including the FBI. To others, Pinkerton betrayed the values of his Scottish youth: he had been a champion of militant workers in Scotland, and participated in revolutionary uprisings in Wales and England, yet was instrumental in crushing organised labour in the United States. In truth, Pinkerton never played a part in Wales’ Newport uprising, and took with him, when he crossed the Atlantic in 1842, knowhow about repression that he had acquired on his native soil. He may have learned about informers because he was one of their victims, or he may have promoted labour espionage in Pennsylvania in the 1870s because he had been himself an informer before he emigrated. The Scottish authorities’ deliberate abstinence from record-keeping and the serial, defensive destruction of PNDA records mean it is impossible to prove or disprove the informer hypothesis, but the role of the informer in Scottish political culture does help to explain Pinkerton’s behaviour and apparent hypocrisy.

The derivative action exerted by shareholders (rectius, by a single shareholder or by a minority of them) falls within the wider topic of the defence of shareholder minorities. Considered as one of the pillars of corporate governance, the above-mentioned subject tends to be a control tool as to the accurate execution of the managerial task. Some empirical studies show that, in spite of corporate fraud by managers, in listed companies there are no such lawsuits. This “physiological paradox” – under which the others’ indifference enables a few organised individuals to control the company – has urged the need for a deep re-examination of control power over management. According to the European Directive on the Cross-border Exercise of Shareholders’ Rights, effective shareholder control is a prerequisite to sound corporate governance and should, therefore, be facilitated and encouraged. But control power over management is usually based on “empty” procedures and frequently false meeting practices. The fundamental “hypocrisy” of corporate governance is due to different quality and quantity of information available for deeply different groups of people. From this point of view, the European Directive makes it easier to exercise some traditional rights, but still does not give a “full” right to be informed about management.

In the light of corporate scandals, pressure has increased on organizations to communicate information related to their corporate social responsibility (CSR). In order to keep up with the increased pressure on social commitment, organizations’ self-descriptions may be future-oriented rather than reflections of reality. The future-oriented communication may improve the organizational culture and thereby motivate staff to perform more efficiently. On the other hand, if the organization does not fulfill their CSR communication it could lead to internal skepticism. This thesis constitutes a case study of the organization Coop, comprising whether the relationship between its CSR communication and the internal perception of Coop’s CSR work in store has affected their organizational culture.   In order to answer How does Coop communicate it sustainability work through its external communication? and How does the staff perceive Coop's sustainability work? a qualitative content analysis and interviews with Coop’s staff have been conducted. The theoretical framework consists of Nils Brunsson’s (2006) theory about Organized hypocrisy, and Christensen's (1997) Autocommunication.   A conclusion that can be made from the results of this thesis, is that the image communicated from Coop (regarding their sustainability work) does not seem to be fully aligned with the staff’s perception of Coop’s sustainability work. Coop’s definition of their sustainability work had only been acknowledged by some, whereas half of the staff had individual interpretations of Coop’s sustainability work. The various definitions of sustainability among the staff led to various attitudes towards Coop’s sustainability work, which ultimately resulted in a fragmented organizational culture.

Denna uppsats fokuserar på den etableringsprocess som har skett i Jönköpings kommun vid införandet av familjecentraler. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur införandet av familjecentraler kan förstås och genom det skapa fördjupad kunskap om etableringsprocesser i socialt arbete. Studien har genomförts i form av en fallstudie. Empiri har samlats in genom intervjuer och genom offentliga allmänna handlingar. Materialet har analyserats genom ett adhoc-förfarande inspirerat av fallstudieanalys. Teorier som använts i analysen grundar sig i agenda-settingteori och i nyinstitutionell organisationsteori. Resultatet visar att familjecentraler som idé är omtolkningsbart vilket resulterat i en omfattande översättningsprocess. I den processen har socialtjänstens roll varit decimerad, vilket avspeglas i det utrymme som socialtjänsten ges på familjecentralerna där deras roll definieras av andra professioner än de själva. Det som gör att familjecentralerna kommer att etableras är en kritik mot och från barnhälsovården rörande relationen med socialtjänsten. Detta ackompanjeras av en ökad oro för föräldraskapet samt ökade krav på billigare och bättre verksamheter inom den offentliga sektorn. Dock får familjecentralsetableringen ett abrupt avbrott i och med att studier lyfts fram som indikerar att det finns bristande kunskaper rörande familjecentralernas effekt, vilket skapar hinder för nyetableringar. Detta medför inte att befintliga familjecentraler läggs ner vilket kan förstås i att familjecentralspolicyn visar en hög grad av institutionalisering, en stark förgivettagen tro på familjecentralerna, där dessa upphör att behöva legitimeras i form av problemadressering och resultat.
This bachelor thesis focuses on the establishment process of family centers in Jönköping municipality, Sweden. The purpose of this case-study is to examine on which terms the establishment of family centers can be understood aiming for the creation of in-depth knowledge about establishment processes in social work. Data has been collected via semi-structured interviews and via open records. The data has been analyzed via ad-hoc analyses inspired by cases study analyses. Theoretical framework used in the study is Kingdon’s agenda setting theory and neo-institutional organization theory. The study presents that family centre policy is highly interpretable and therefore has been a case of policy translation, which has resulted in a decimated part for the social services in the family centers, highly defined by other professions. The establishment of family centers is a result of a critique aimed against and from the child health care services, accompanied with an increased worry for parenthood and demands for more economically efficient function within the public sector. The process is interrupted by studies that indicate insufficient knowledge about the efficiency of the family centers. However this doesn’t result in closure of family centers because the function has reached a high degree of institutionalization, where it is legitimized by presumptions and beliefs rather than results and problem addressing.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of International Relations in the Faculty of Humanities Department of International Relations, 2016
A feud between the African Union (AU) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been dragging for a while now. The indictment of President Omar Hassan Ahmad alBashir of Sudan and President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy president William Ruto in Kenya altered the cosy relations between the two organisations. Firstly, the AU contends that the ICC cannot prosecute heads of states that have immunity under international law. Secondly, the ICC disturbs the ongoing peace processes with its investigations. The AU accused the ICC of selecting African states for prosecution; as a protracted form of imperialism by prevailing western powers. Withstanding, some of the AU member states that are party to the ICC have willingly signed up to its jurisdiction. Besides, the AU’s founding documents support the fight against grave atrocities. Nonetheless, the AU has failed dismally to live up to the principles it endorses- which tantamount to hypocrisy. The contradictory rhetoric of the AU towards the ICC is not exclusive to the AU, but to international organisations due to conflicting pressures in external environments. The paper explains this empirical phenomenon by applying Organised Hypocrisy (OH) to capture such contradictory behaviour prone to international organisations.
XL2018

O tempo, como o mundo, tem dois hemisférios: um superior e visível, que é o passado, outro inferior e invisível, que é o futuro. No meio de um e outro hemisfério ficam os horizontes do tempo, que são estes instantes do presente que imos vivendo, onde o passado se termina e o futuro começa. Padre António Vieira, História do Futuro, (1718) O presente trabalho resultou de um percurso de vida e profissional, que se foi construindo ao sabor dos acontecimentos e que culminou nas aprendizagens e reflexão, que foram despoletadas com a frequência do mestrado em Ciências da Educação, especialização em Administração e Organização Escolar. O título do relatório, A Trajetória do professor por entre desafios e paradoxos - histórias de insensatez enquadra-se nas vivências e experiências do autor enquanto profissional da educação, num tempo marcado por mudanças profundas nas escolas e nas competências dos professores. O trabalho desenvolve-se em três capítulos. No primeiro, procedo ao enquadramento teórico das problemáticas abordadas, realçando o valor da atitude reflexiva dos professores no exercício da sua profissão, facilitadora de um processo formativo individual que parte de si, das suas vivências e reflexões. Neste âmbito são de salientar, pela sua pertinência, as narrativas autobiográficas e de reflexão para a mudança de práticas, reconhecendo-se que é através das histórias de vida que se identificam novas propostas de formação para os professores e para a profissão docente (Nóvoa, 2007). No segundo capítulo faço a análise reflexiva da minha prática profissional através do relato das diversas escolas por onde passei, procurando salientar os momentos marcantes, positivos e negativos, da carreira e qual a sua importância para o meu desenvolvimento profissional. No âmbito do terceiro capítulo destaco alguns casos/dilemas mais marcantes do meu percurso e as soluções que pus em prática para os solucionar. É um trabalho narrativo das dinâmicas sofridas e usufruídas que contribuíram, indelevelmente, para o meu desenvolvimento profissional e para a (re)construção da minha identidade profissional. A elucidação e interpretação do meu percurso profissional concretiza-se à luz dos quadros teóricos das Ciências da Educação. Pretende-se assim, uma abordagem, teoricamente sustentada, sobre a minha vivência, enquanto professor de diversas escolas do ensino básico e secundário, no ensino público português. Essa vivência que decorre desde a entrada no ensino, em 1988 até ao momento actual, foi marcada por muitas “pedras no caminho”, momentos marcantes da minha profissão docente. Assim, a presente narrativa salienta a descrição de dilemas/casos que foram surgindo no meu quotidiano, onde procuro identificar os momentos marcantes, positivos e negativos da minha vida profissional e o modo como me senti na escola, no pressuposto de que as histórias/narrativas dos professores são fundamentais para a compreensão do modo como os mesmos vivenciam, sentem e gerem o seu dia-a-dia na escola. De acordo com Hargreaves & Fullan (1992) a carreira de um professor é o resultado de um processo de desenvolvimento e formação permanentes, a que não são alheios, por um lado, os conhecimentos que vai adquirindo ao longo da sua vida profissional e, por outro, o seu caráter e o contexto económico-social em que exerce a sua atividade. Reconhece-se, ainda, que o desenvolvimento pessoal e profissional, a formação da identidade do indivíduo como pessoa, diferente dos demais, resulta do facto de pertencer a uma certa classe social, educado nos valores a ela inerentes, com um percurso académico distinto, trilhado em estabelecimentos de ensino determinados, com diferentes vivências que moldaram o seu carácter. É frequente, os professores compararem o seu percurso profissional a uma viagem, metáfora que ilustra bem os prazeres e contratempos típicos a ela inerentes mas que contribuem para que se torne inesquecível e inigualável. O meu percurso profissional encontra-se povoado de obstáculos mas, tal como nas histórias de viagens, conseguir ultrapassá-los proporcionou-me momentos de grande satisfação. A partilha de dilemas e casos de ensino, de frustrações, de alegrias, de estratégias, de metodologias, de conhecimentos académicos e pedagógicos poderão contribuir para mais conhecimento e desenvolvimento profissional, mas também uma maior abertura à própria comunidade educativa, onde se desenrola a acção dos professores e um maior envolvimento pessoal no projecto educativo da escola. Se na escola existir, ou for criado, um clima e espaços favoráveis à partilha do sentir singular, introduzindo-o e comparando-o com o plural, todos terão a ganhar: professores, alunos e o sistema educativo em geral. Da análise que realizei, dois aspectos me parecem dignos de registo: por um lado, o sentimento de angústia dos professores em geral, causado pela perda da legitimação tradicional da tarefa docente, fruto das inúmeras e, por vezes, contraditórias mudanças; por outro, apesar de se valorizar a partilha e o trabalho colaborativo, este continua a ser uma miragem nas nossas escolas. Pierre Furter – afirma que “o horizonte não existe para nos trazer de volta à origem, mas para nos permitir medir toda a distância que temos a percorrer. O homo viator constrói uma casa apenas para o tempo necessário, pois é caminhando que ele se encontra e descobre o sentido da sua acção”. (Furter, 1966: 26). Torna-se necessário um pensamento que não se feche nem nas fronteiras do imediato, nem na ilusão de um futuro mais-que-perfeito. À maneira de Reinhart Koselleck (1990), interessa-me compreender de que modo o passado está inscrito na nossa experiência atual e de que modo o futuro se insinua já na história presente.” (Nóvoa, 2009: 1)
“Time, as the world itself, has two hemispheres: an upper and visible, which is the past, and a lower and invisible that is the future. At the center of one and other hemisphere lie time horizons; these present moments that we live, where the past ends and the future begins.” Padre António Vieira, História do Futuro, (1718) This work resulted from my life and professional path, which was built on the whim of life happenings and culminated in the learning and reflections, triggered by attending a Master’s Degree in Science of Education, Specialization in School Administration and Organization. The title of the report, The teacher's path among challenges and paradoxes – a tale of unwisdom, conforms to the author’s experiences as a certified professional in education, in times of profound change, both in schools and teachers' skills. The work is divided into three chapters. The first chapter is concerned with the theoretical framework regarding the issues addressed, highlighting the importance of a reflexive teachers’ attitude in their professional exercise, facilitator of an individual training process that emerges from themselves, their experiences and reflections. In this context are to be noted, for their relevance, autobiographical and reflective narratives for a change in practice, acknowledging that it is through life stories that new training proposals for teachers and the teaching profession are identified. (Nóvoa, 2007). In the second chapter, I present a reflective analysis on my teaching practice through a thorough account on the many schools I have taught, trying to highlight the defining moments, both positive and negative, of my career and their relevance to my professional development. In the scope of the third chapter, I highlight the most landmark cases/dilemmas of my journey through teaching and the solutions approached to solve them. It is a narrative piece of writing that shows the experiences that I have lived and enjoyed and which have contributed in an indelible way to my professional development and (re) construction of my professional identity. The explanation and interpretation of my professional path are materialized on the basis of the theoretical frameworks of Educational Sciences. The intention is to present a grounded theoretical approach of my experience as a teacher in several Portuguese public schools of basic and secondary education. This experience began in 1988, when I first started teaching, and has continued up to the present and has been marked by many "stumbling blocks", defining moments of my teaching profession. Thus, this narrative emphasizes the description of dilemmas / cases that have arisen in my daily life, identifies the defining moments, both positive and negative, of my career and the way I felt at school, assuming that teachers’ stories / narratives are key to the understanding of the way they live, feel and manage their day-to-day at school. According to Hargreaves & Fullan (1992), a teacher´s career is the result of a process of ongoing development and training, to which the knowledge acquired throughout professional life, one’s character and the socio-economic context in which one works have also contributed. It is also acknowledged, in this work, that both personal and professional development and the identity formation of the individual as a person, different from the others’, result from the fact of one belonging to a certain social class, being educated according to the values inherent to it, with a distinguished academic record, achieved in certain schools and with different experiences that have shaped one’s character. Often do teachers compare their professional path to a journey, a metaphor that best illustrates the joys and pitfalls inherent to it, but which have made this journey most unforgettable and unrivaled. My professional path has been marked by many obstacles but, as in travel stories, being able to overcome them has given me great moments of joy. The sharing of dilemmas and teaching situations, frustrations, joys, strategies, teaching methodology, academic and pedagogical knowledge may not only contribute to further knowledge and professional development, but also to a more open-minded attitude towards the educational community, where teachers do their work, and greater personal involvement in the school educational project. If a favorable atmosphere and time exist or are created in schools, so as to facilitate the sharing of a common feeling, introducing and comparing it with the plural, everyone will profit: teachers, students and the education system in general. From the conducted analysis, two aspects are worth mentioning: on the one hand, the feeling of anxiety most teachers experience, caused by the loss of legitimacy in traditional teaching, the result of numerous and, often, contradictory changes; on the other hand, though one appreciates sharing and collaborative work, this is still a mirage in our schools. Pierre Furter states that "the horizon doesn’t exist to bring us back to our origin, but to allow us to measure all the distance we still have to go. The Homo Viator builds a house just for the necessary time, for it is walking that he finds himself and discovers the meaning of his action." (Furter, 1966: 26). It becomes necessary for a thought not to be limited by the boundaries of the immediate, or the illusion of a more than perfect future. In the light of what Reinhart Koselleck believes (1990), I am interested in understanding in what way the past is written in our current experience and how the future already insinuates itself into present history”. (Nóvoa, 2009: 1)

This chapter deals with the theme of hypocrisy — the inverted relationship between decision and action. Hypocrisy is a response to a world in which values, ideas, or people are in conflict — a way in which individuals and organizations handle such conflicts. It is a way of trying to satisfy some demands by talk or decisions and others by action. Situations of conflicting demands often make it easier to act in one direction if the decision indicates the opposite: the more clear is the decision that is made about an action, the lower the likelihood that that action will actually be taken. The probability of an action increases if what is decided is in opposition to it. Decisions in one direction compensate for actions in the opposite direction and vice versa. In order to choose or mobilize actions, decisions must be made before actions. In order to establish responsibility and create legitimacy, however, this is not always necessary; instead it is often wise to make decisions after the actions — when there is no uncertainty about which action has been taken.

Fundamental changes in foundational international institutions, from one kind of structure to another have primarily been precipitated by threats to the core security interests of powerful actors. In the contemporary international system there is no opportunity outside of Europe for a bargaining process that would lead to a transformation of the basic norms and rules of sovereignty. Nevertheless, departures from conventional sovereignty have always been present and will persist, possibly become more frequent. Sovereignty, like every other international system, has always been characterized by organized hypocrisy.

This chapter recounts the 1961 basketball scandal, arguing that Jack Molinas was not the only one to blame for the scandal. It remarks on the similarities between both scandals, arguing that the scandal would have occurred without Molinas' involvement. Corruption had become more rather than less pervasive after the 1951 scandal, as many major colleges continued with their self-imposed mandate to provide professionalized entertainment for the American public. As in the 1951 scandal, coaches and college authorities ran professionalized sports operations, recruiting players not qualified to be students, paying them to play, and ignoring obvious signs of rigging, all to win championships and national rankings and in the process earn money for themselves, their institutions, and their boosters. In this environment of hypocrisy and corruption and widespread popularity of gambling and organized crime, the chapter thus argues that a scandal was inevitable.

This chapter argues that MOVE’s public confrontations in the early 1970s should be understood within their religious worldview. John Africa taught MOVE people to confront progress, the idea that we can make the world a better place, that technology can relieve our suffering, that we control our own destinies. MOVE people used profane language, situationally inappropriate attire, and disrespectful behavior to draw attention to the sacredness with which American society imbued organized religion, political advancement, and formal education. They refused to genuflect before the power of the state to expose, they believed, the false trust Americans had placed in government. John Africa taught that by merely forcing Americans to confront the hypocrisy inherent in their false religion of progress, the System would crumble. But to do that, MOVE people had to profane what American society held sacred, and to venerate the sacredness of Life that American society had forgotten.