This study examines the accountability of the self among sustainability and humanitarian advocates participating in the World Economic Forum. Drawing from Butler’s (Giving an account of oneself. Fordham University Press, New York, 2005) philosophy, we explore how these individuals narrate their accountability to themselves and others, the contradictions they experience, and how they explain becoming responsible in this context. Our data illustrate the difficulties faced by these individuals in resisting the temptation to condemn themselves for compromising their own values, and/or (...) to condemn others who think and behave differently. Through their humility in relation to their incoherent identities, and their generosity in engaging with others, the participants show their responsibility both to those they advocate for and to other delegates who may have different perspectives. The study illustrates how accountability to and of the self emerges through relations with others, how individuals struggle to resist ethical violence, and how they take up moral responsibility through human interaction. (shrink)

This article contributes to the conversation on the implementation of the Principles of Responsible Management Education by reflecting the authors’ specific experiences of being lecturer and student in delivering/engaging with the Principles. It gives voice to these roles, which is largely absent from the extant literature that instead focuses most frequently on macrolevel, institutional motivation and programme development. The work provided outcomes that met institutional performance development requirements, teaching and research outputs. It provided an integrated learning and employment opportunity as (...) an enhancement to the student’s degree. Yet despite these positives, as this article reveals, there is an uncomfortable sense of contradiction between the micro-practice of this teaching and learning experience, and the broader management pressures exerted by UK universities as institutions. The implication is that the possible systemic change that frameworks such as PRME may achieve is constrained by these contradictions. (shrink)