Interim, discontinuous or "acting" management is an increasingly ubiquitous feature of universities. This paper asks: What are the implications of this for good academic governance? Should we understand this managerial dance as a symptom of the collapse of good managerial order or, by contrast, as a symptom of the robustness and…

This article inquires into risk consciousness as a political and moral imperative that is reconstituting the nature and purposes of university systems, policies and processes. It discusses the assumptions that underpin such systems, and how such systems, once operationalised, change the work that academics actually do. The aim is to draw attention…

The article examines the ways in which rationalities of risk currently work to produce the academic as a self-managing worker within the 'post-welfare' university as a risk-conscious organization. It explores how risk minimization as audit (individual, departmental, organizational), engages all individuals within the university in doing particular…

Examines how risk management is reworking the doctoral supervisor/candidate relationship. Examines "soft marking" (grading) as a specific domain in which risk minimization is producing new relational identities for both supervisors and students involved in doctoral studies programs. (EV)

This article addresses risk and its minimization as a powerful rationality for driving leadership practices in contemporary schools. It explores risk-consciousness as "a moral climate of politics" (Giddens 2002) and as a management imperative that impacts on any contemporary organization, including schools. The impact of…

Universities are under no less pressure to adopt risk management strategies than other public and private organisations. The risk management of doctoral education is a particularly important issue given that a doctorate is the highest academic qualification a university offers and stakes are high in terms of assuring its quality. However, intense…

This paper argues the importance of moving beyond the state of affairs that makes victims "either" of children "or" of teachers by exploring the conditions of possibility for the idea of a victimless school. The argument is developed drawing data from a study being conducted by the authors into the impact of risk management on…