Lecturer in Social Theory and Consumption

Contact Details

• Tel: +44 (0) 116 223 1079
• Email: s.dunne@le.ac.uk
• Office: Room 330, Level 3, Ken Edwards Building    
• Office Hours: 9:00 am-11:00 am Wednesdays, and by appointment

Biography

Stephen joined the staff of the School of Management in October 2007 having progressed through its PhD programme from October 2004 onwards. Before arriving at the University of Leicester, Stephen had studied Sociology at University College Dublin and Marketing at the Dublin Institute of Technology. He has since studied Philosophy at the University of Warwick and is currently developing his second PhD project in that area. Stephen has also held teaching and research positions at the Dublin Institute of Technology.

Research Interests

Stephen’s work to date has run along three overlapping threads: the role of critique within the context of the business school, the political and philosophical underpinnings of the corporate social responsibility debate, and the nature of the relationship between sociology and politics. A recent bout of study leave hastened the dawning of a crucial if slightly pretentious realization in the form of a sound-bite, namely, that this research approaches the relationship between (critical) social theory and (political) philosophy as a simultaneous object for conceptual investigation and subject of empirical investigation.

On the one hand, treating the (critical) social theory/(political) philosophy divide as an object for investigation has meant remaining fascinated by the hatred of philosophy evident on the part of sociology, most notably within the work of Norbert Elias and his followers. Other projects of this nature include investigations into the intellectual and institutional relationships between Critical Theory and Critical Management Studies (with Robert Cluley and Mark Tadajewski), a comparison of how the (critical) social theory/(political) philosophy divide has been dealt with by Althusser, Boltanski, Bourdieu and Foucault, and an ongoing consideration of the politics of consumption.

On the other hand, treating the (critical) social theory/(political) philosophy divide as a subject of investigation has meant conducting empirical work with concepts drawn from both sides of the apparent divide. Interdisciplinary work is treated as a crucial mode of investigation in this regard not because more is added to an existing subject area in the process, but rather because the subject area is seen as already fragmented from the outset to the point where the apparent divide becomes difficult to sustain in practice. This observation forms the basis for empirical work currently being developed along two separate registers: in the context of an historical study of Marx Reading Groups (with Matthew Allen) and in the context of an exploratory study of Horror Movie Fanaticism (with Kenneth Weir). 

PhD Supervision

Stephen is currently co-supervising two dissertation projects, both with Maria Puig de la Bellacasa. Thomas Swann’s work focuses upon the relations between anarchist political philosophy and contemporary organisational practices with regards to the field of Business Ethics whilst Nicholas Beuret’s project analyses the relationship between political economy and ecology through the notion of catastrophe. Stephen is also interested in supervising dissertation projects related to his eclectic research interests, as outlined above, and in each of the following areas:

• Organising Critical Theory

• Social Theory and Consumption

• Academic and Intellectual Labour

• Political Philosophy and Corporate Philanthropy

Teaching

• Foundations of Knowledge (BA Management Studies)
• Corporate Social Responsibility: Theory and Practice (BA Management Studies)
• Consumption, Society and Culture (Masters Level Option)

Current Administrative Responsibilities

• Director of the Centre for Philosophy and Political Economy (CPPE).
• Co-editor of ephemera: theory and politics in organization
• School open days and visit days co-organiser
• Personal Tutor on both Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes

Selected Recent Publications

Butler, Nick and Stephen Dunne (Forthcoming) ‘Duelling with Dualisms: Descartes, Foucault and the History of Organizational Limits’, Management and Organizational History.

Cluley, Robert and Stephen Dunne (Forthcoming) ‘From commodity fetishism to commodity narcissism – theorising enlightened consumption as if the subject mattered’, Marketing Theory.

Harney, Stefano and Stephen Dunne (Forthcoming) More than Nothing? Accounting, Business, and Management Studies, and the Research Audit, Critical Perspectives on Accounting.

Ten Bos, Rene and Stephen Dunne (2011) ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ in Painter-Morland, Mollie and Rene ten Bos (Eds.) Business Ethics and Continental Philosophy. Cambridge University Press.

Dunne, Stephen and Sverre Spoelstra (2010) ‘The Gift of Leadership’, Philosophy Today, 54(1), 66-77.
 Beverungen, Armin, Stephen Dunne and Casper Hoedemaekers ‘The university of finance’, ephemera: theory and politics in organization, 9(4), 261-270.

Dunne, Stephen (2009) ‘The Politics of Figurational Sociology’, The Sociological Review, 57(1), 28-57.

Dunne, Stephen, Stefano Harney, Martin Parker and Tony Tinker (2008) ‘Discussing the Role of the Business School’, ephemera: theory and politics in organization, 8(3), 271-293.

Beverungen, Armin, Stephen Dunne and Bent Meier Sørensen (2008) ‘University, Failed’, ephemera: theory and politics in organization, 8(3), 232-237.

Hanlon, Gerard, Stephen Dunne and Stefano Harney (2008) ‘Kreativität messen? Paradoxien des britischen Research Assessment Exercise’ Trans. Thomas Atzert. West End: Neue Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung, 1(2), 71-101. 

Dunne, Stephen (2008) ‘Corporate Social Responsibility and the Value of Corporate Moral Pragmatism’, Culture and Organization, 14(2), 135-149.

Dunne, Stephen, Stefano Harney and Martin Parker (2008) ‘The Responsibilities of Management Intellectuals: A Survey’, Organization, 15(2), 217-82.

Beverungen, Armin and Stephen Dunne (2007) ‘’I’d Prefer Not to’. Bartleby and the Excesses of Interpretation’, Culture and Organization, 13(2), 171-83.

Dunne, Stephen (2007) ‘What is Corporate Social Responsibility Now?’ (Extended Book Review), ephemera: theory & politics in organization, 7(2), 372-80.

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