Research Seminar Series: Professor Carl Rhodes

Speaker: Professor Carl Rhodes
Title: The Good Business School: The Political Imperative of Management Education in the 21st Century
Date: Wednesday, 24 June 2026
Time: 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Venue: Building 26C, CBE, 248, Allan Barton Forum

Hongbo Guo is the host of this visit 

Abstract

What should a ‘good’ business school stand for in an era of intensifying inequality, culture wars, and rising right‑wing populism? Drawing on my forthcoming book with Alison Pullen, The Good Business School: The Political Imperative of Business Education in the 21st Century, this seminar argues that business schools can no longer retreat into claims of technocratic expertise or scholarly neutrality. As ideas such as social impact and stakeholder capitalism have moved from corporate rhetoric into the curriculum, they have become flashpoints in broader political struggles over knowledge, identity, and power. The central question is no longer one of balancing academic rigour with practical relevance, but of institutional purpose, asking what kind of role should business schools play in society? Against the backdrop of politicised debates over ‘wokeness,’ increasing state intervention in higher education, and challenges to academic freedom, the seminar examines how business schools have become sites of political contestation. In response, it advances a vision of the business school as a democratically engaged institution oriented towards public value, committed to intellectual pluralism, and actively contributing to shared prosperity. Rather than reproducing existing economic orthodoxies, such schools would embrace their civic responsibilities by fostering critical inquiry, engaging with diverse social perspectives, and equipping students to navigate and shape the political economy of contemporary capitalism.

Bio

Carl Rhodes is Professor of Business and Society at the University of Technology Sydney and previously served as Dean of UTS Business School. He researches the relationship between liberal democracy and contemporary capitalism. This work questions and endeavours to reformulate the role of business in society so prosperity can be shared by all. Carl is the author of Woke Capitalism: How Corporate Morality is Sabotaging Democracy (2022) and Stinking Rich: The Four Myths of the Good Billionaire (2025). His next book, The Good Business School: The Political Imperative of Management Education in the 21st Century (with Alison Pullen) will be published in November 2026. A regular contributor to the media, Carl’s writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, Fast Company, and The Conversation.