Professor\u00a0 Knights said, \u201cThere are numerous accounts of the financial crisis that\u00a0 shocked the Western world in 2008. Almost all the commentaries are\u00a0 based on assumptions that economic self-interest created the crisis.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile\u00a0 acknowledging the multiplicity of reasons for the crisis and how it\u00a0 should be managed, this article offers an alternative \u2013 it presents a\u00a0 gendered perspective that could complement but also challenge some of\u00a0 the conventional wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n The analysis suggests that individual economic self-interest, as manifest in the preoccupation with high\u00a0 salaries and bonuses, was a major condition of the excesses leading to\u00a0 the crisis<\/strong>. These excesses are heavily reinforced by masculine\u00a0 fragilities that demand ever-increasing economic rewards to demonstrate\u00a0 competitive superiority of the masculine self<\/strong>. The paper argues that\u00a0 this masculine self-interest reflects a sense of autonomy that\u00a0 contradicts our interdependence with others<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Professor Knight\u00a0 continues, \u201cOur article explores how this self-interest is not just a\u00a0 reflection of the economic consensus but also of masculine behaviour\u00a0 within the business class elite that make the pursuit of ever-spiralling\u00a0 remuneration almost obligatory. In it, we suggest a link between\u00a0 managing masculinity and mismanaging the corporation that has led to\u00a0 government bailouts for the banks and a near-collapse of Western\u00a0 economies.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough new governance and regulation are clearly\u00a0 important responses to the crisis, they do not necessarily get to the\u00a0 root of the problem. Many of the solutions rely exclusively on a\u00a0 regulatory ethos that seeks to constrain unethical behaviour by\u00a0 punishment. Unfortunately this is a kind of bureaucratization of\u00a0 morality – morality that is dependent on complying with rules.<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps\u00a0 what we need is an ethics that is based on developing a virtuous self\u00a0 where morality is not about gaining advantage or avoiding punishment but\u00a0 becomes an end in itself. Of course the cure of collective morality\u00a0 conflicts with Western ideologies that since Adam Smith support\u00a0 individual self-interest on the basis that it has a ‘hidden hand’ of\u00a0 collective benefit. If nothing else, the global financial crisis exposed\u00a0 that myth and we all are suffering the consequences. Unfortunately organisational cultures are still dominated by the myth and masculine\u00a0 discourses, regardless of the gender of individuals, continue to reward\u00a0 instrumental behaviour rather than celebrate moral fortitude, despite\u00a0 devastating consequences<\/strong>. We have to challenge masculine preoccupations\u00a0 with individual success and restore moral purpose to organisational\u00a0 life.\u201d<\/p>\n The article, co-authored by Professor Knights and Maria\u00a0 Tullberg of Gothenberg University, was first published online 6 June\u00a0 2011.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From the UWE Bristol press release via HealthCanal: An article on the role of masculinity in the ongoing financial crisis has been published in the July issue of Organisation journal…. Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,8],"tags":[46,57,59,58,143,12],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4700"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4700"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4773,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4700\/revisions\/4773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/images\/blogpics\/Businessman.jpg\" "\\"big")
<\/strong>An article on the role of<\/strong> masculinity in the ongoing financial crisis<\/strong> has been published in the July issue of Organisation<\/em> journal. The article, entitled ‘Managing Masculinity\/Mismanaging the Corporation’ is, according its co-author, Professor David Knights from UWE Bristol, highly topical due to the range of current issues surrounding banking, the LIBOR rate and executive bonuses.<\/p>\n