Neil Sutherland

After spending my formative years touring across the world in DIY punk bands, I have now taken the not-so-obvious career progression of teaching and writing about the theory and practice of organisations. I joined the Bristol Business School in 2013, and have since taught on a range of programmes focussing on organisational leadership, change and culture. I am the Programme Leader for BA(Hons) Business Management and Leadership, and the Module Leader for 'Understanding Organisations and People' (Level One) and 'Organisational Leadership' (Level Two). In the 2017 Student Experience awards, I won the 'Outstanding Teaching Award'​​. ​

I am currently involved in a range of research projects, revolving around:

Leadership: One of my primary interests is the performance of leadership in 'alternative' organisations, including radically democratic social movements. In my research I draw on Critical Leadership Studies (CLS), and I am particularly interested in exploring democratic practices and how they facilitate non-hierarchical forms of organisation. Gender studies: Many of my projects intersect with notions of gender and taken-for-granted 'gendered knowledge' that we occupy on a daily basis. In particular I am currently interested in exploring alternative and resistant forms of gendered knowledge that fight against dominant (or 'hegemonic') understandings. Ethnography & Qualitative Methods: Another strand of research involves exploring the place and value of qualitative methods in organisational research. Across a range of projects, I note the significance of reflexive and autoethnographic writing; the importance of emotions in ethnography research; and potentialities for more involved qualitative methods in leadership studies. ​ Craft and Artisanal work: I am also interested in exploring the rise of Craft Brewing and Artisanal work in the United Kingdom. Indeed, the last decade has seen a dramatic increase in this field, characterised as 'good' work, based on skill, community, passion and commitment. This stands in stark contrast to other contemporary forms of organization. ​​ Website: drneilsutherland.wordpress.com​

Area of expertise

Pandeli, J. and Sutherland, N. (2016) 'Denied, Decried and Discarded: Analysing the unspoken emotions from dangerous ethnography' Presented at the 11th Ethnography Symposium, Bristol, England 24th-26th August 2016.

​​​Sutherland, N. (2015) 'Leadership without Leaders: Understanding Anarchist Organising through the lens of Critical Leadership Studies' In: Carroll, B. Ford, J. and Taylor, S. (Eds.) 'Leadership: Contemporary Critical Perspectives' London: Sage (p. 212-232)

Edwards, G. Turner, A. Sutherland, N. (2014) 'Reflective walking and leadership learning' Presented at the 6th Developing Leadership Capacity Conference, Lancaster, England, 8-9th July 2014.

Sutherland, N. and Edwards, G. (2014) 'Using a 'Twist in the Tale' to teach Critical Leadership Studies: Reflections and Implications' Presented at the 6th Developing Leadership Capacity Conference, Lancaster, England, 8-9th July 2014.

Sutherland, N. (2014) 'Ethnography and Leadership: Opportunities and Potentialities' Presented at the 9th Ethnography Symposium, Ipswich, England, 27-29th August 2014.

Sutherland, N. (2013) 'Review: Direct Action, Deliberation and Diffusion: Collective Action after the WTO protests in Seattle'. Interface, 5(2)

Sutherland, N., Bohm, S. and Land, C. (2013) 'Anti-leaders(hip) in Social Movement Organisations: The case of autonomous grassroots groups'. Organization [online]

Sutherland, N. (2013) 'Social Movements and Activist Ethnography'. Organization, 20(4): 627-643.

Sutherland, N. (2013) 'Leadership without leaders?' Presented at the 8th International Conference in Critical Management Studies, Manchester, England. 10-12th July 2013.

Sutherland, N. (2012) 'We all do it here: Understanding leadership in anarchist organisations'. Presented at the 2nd Anarchist Studies Network Conference, Loughborough, England. 3-5th September 2012.

Sutherland, N. (2012) 'Activist Ethnography and Social Movements: Opportunities and Potentialities'. Presented at the 7th Ethnography Symposium, Liverpool, England, 29-31st August 2012.

Sutherland, N. (2012) 'Democracy, participation and anti-leaders(hip) in Social Movement Organisations'. Presented at the 18th EGOS Colloquium, Helsinki, Finland. 5-7th July 2012.

Sutherland, N. (2010) 'Re-thinking leadership in organisations'. Presented at the PhD Colloquium, University College Suffolk, 26th March 2010.​

Publications

Sutherland, N. (2018) Investigating leadership ethnographically: Opportunities and potentialities. Leadership, 14 (3). pp. 263-290. ISSN 1742-7169 Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/31382 ' Bendell, J., Little, R. and Sutherland, N. (2018) The seven unsustainabilities of mainstream leadership. In: Redekop, B., Gallagher, D. and Satterwhite, R., eds. (2018) Innovation in Environmental Leadership: Critical Perspectives. London: Routledge, pp. 25-48. Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/34406 ' Bendell, J., Sutherland, N. and Little, R. (2017) Beyond unsustainable leadership: Critical social theory for sustainable leadership. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 8 (4). pp. 418-444. ISSN 2040-8021 Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/31652 ' Sutherland, N. (2015) 'Studying Leadership Ethnographically: Reflections of a first-time ethnographer'. In: International Studying Leadership Capacity Conference, Lancaster, 13 - 15 December 2015. Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/27885 ' Sutherland, N. and Edwards, G. (2014) Using a 'Twist in the Tale' to teach critical leadership studies: Reflections and implications. In: 6th Developing Leadership Capacity Conference, Lancaster, 8-9th July 2014. Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/27887 ' Edwards, G., Zundl, M., Turner, A. and Sutherland, N. (2014) Reflective walking and leadership learning. In: 6th Developing Leadership Capacity Conference, Lancaster, 8-9th July 2014. Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/27886 ' Sutherland, N. (2014) In search of leadership: An ethnography of meaning-making in leaderless organisations. PhD, University of Essex. Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/27891 ' Sutherland, N. (2013) Review: Direct action, deliberation and diffusion: Collective action after the WTO protests in Seattle. Interface, 5 (2). pp. 540-543. Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/27888 ' Sutherland, N. (2013) Leadership without leaders? In: International Conference in Critical Management Studies, Manchester, 10-12th July 2013. Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/27889 ' Sutherland, N. (2012) Activist ethnography and social movements: Opportunities and potentialities. In: 7th Ethnography Symposium, Liverpool, 29 - 31 August 2012. Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/27890 '