Date of Publication: August 2024
Book Reviews
Stephen Dunne (2024): The improprietorial pentagram. Shaping for mediocrity: universities and the cancellation of critical thinking, by Gibson Burrell, Ronald Hartz, David Harvie, Geoffrey Lightfoot, and Simon Lilley. In: Consumption Markets and Culture, 1-3.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10253866.2024.2435665
Yiannis Gabriel (2025): Tough cookies in UK universities. In: Organization Studies, First published online February 5, 2025.
https://doi.org/10.1177/01708406251321610; http://www.yiannisgabriel.com/2025/02/tough-cookies-in-uk-universities.html
Dennis Tourish (2025): Shaping for Mediocrity: The Cancellation of Critical Thinking at our Universities. In: Prometheus. Critical Studies in Innovation, 40(2), 113-116.
https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/Prometheus.40.2.0113
Véronique Ambrosini (2025): Shaping for Mediocrity: The Cancellation of Critical Thinking at our Universities. In: Academy of Management Learning & Education. First published online May 19, 2025.
https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amle.2025.0059
Steven Brown (2025, June 10): Shaping for Mediocrity by Gibson Burrell and friends [Online]. The Sociological Review Magazine.
https://doi.org/10.51428/tsr.ricp9596
Events / Book Launches
20/09/2024 – Resisting Mediocrity, Remaking the University
Housmans (King’s Cross), London, UK (https://housmans.com/event/resisting-mediocrity-remaking-the-university/)
05/02/2025 – The Baltic Sessions – Resisting Mediocrity, Remaking the University, Newcastle, UK. (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-baltic-sessions-resisting-mediocrity-remaking-the-university-tickets-1151376370719?aff=erelexpmlt)
17/02/2025 – Rubicund Books, Falmouth, UK.
05/03/2025 – COVER Research Centre, University of Essex, UK. (Online) (https://www.essex.ac.uk/events/2025/03/05/shaping-for-mediocrity)
A record of the research seminar is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT_-plbuUnw&t=1s
12/03/2025 – Bookhaus, Bristol, UK. (https://www.bookhausbristol.com/events/#e120718)
04/06/2026 – OWT research seminar, Lancaster University Management School. (https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/research/events/shaping-for-mediocrity-the-cancellation-of-critical-thinking-at-our-universities/)
More information and book order: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/zer0-books/our-books/shaping-for-mediocrity

