Howard Prosser
Biographic Data
| ID | 156727 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Howard Prosser |
| GIVEN NAMES | Howard |
| FAMILY NAME | Prosser |
| SIGNATURE | PROSSER H |
| AFFILIATIONS | Monash University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5627-0075 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 32 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 21 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Choose Your Own Methodology
Researchers must make original contributions to knowledge while conforming to methodological conventions. This article explores this paradox, arguing that methodological “choice” functions as a dispositif , an apparatus that governs conduct by structuring available options. Rather than merely describing this constraint, the text enacts it. Written as a Choose Your Own Adventure story, it invites readers to navigate a doctoral researcher’s apparen…
Paths to nowhere
This interview with the philosopher Raymond Geuss, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, explores the questions animating his 2026 book Tracks in Chaos: Philosophical Orientation and Political Reflection (Polity). The book's title invokes Heidegger's image of the Holzweg – forest tracks cut through labour that often lead nowhere – which Geuss develops into a figure for philosophy as a historically situated, constrained,…
Engineering civility
This article introduces two concepts from contemporary social-theory to Global Citizenship Education (GCED) to offer ways of thinking about teaching and learning in the face of anti-democratic politics. The first part discusses such politics in relation to GCED which, in its critical and liberal modes, seeks to instil confidence in democratic ideals. The second part delineates Wendy Brown’s critique of ‘nihilism’ and Jeffrey Alexander’s idea of ‘…
Counter-narrative as method
This article addresses the ethical question concerning how educational research helps immigrant teachers gain authority and ownership over their self-understanding and self-becoming. By critically examining prior research and analysing the dominant discourse surrounding this specific group, we highlight the limitations and ethical implications of existing findings. We problematise current methodological approaches ito advocate for the necessity o…
Performing my other self
In this article, we employ creative methodologies that enable an immigrant individual to speak out about their lived realities. Drawing on Kristeva’s notion of creative mimesis, performative writing is used to carve out new spaces for understanding the interplay between languages, cultures, and societies. Engaging with an anonymous letter that garnered widespread attention on Chinese social media [我奋斗了18年才和你坐在一起喝咖啡], this article demonstrates how…
Speech-thinking and translation
This article explores the practice of translation, in dialogue with Rosenstock-Huessy’s sociological philosophy. The intention is to reinvigorate his concept of ‘speech-thinking’ and shed light on the intricate relationship between language, thought, and reality. Through an exploration of translation’s position at the interface of cultural otherness, we argue that speech-thinking offers deep analytical insight into the inner workings of human exi…
On magical nominalism
This interview with Martin Jay took place in January 2025. The conversation focuses on the conceptual elements of his book Magical Nominalism: The Historical Event, Aesthetic Reenchantment, and the Photograph (2025). Attention is given to the place of nominalism within philosophy and in connection to critical theory, history, and art. With a mind to his contribution to all these areas, as the Ehrman Professor of European History Emeritus at Unive…
Amplifying critical syncretism in Asia as method
Asia as method, in decolonial thinking, endorses the value of local knowledge while concurrently recognising colonial and global knowledges’ ongoing influence and potential value in knowledge production. Yet, how to apply Asia as method and articulate the diverse traditions of knowledge(s) is underexplored. To address this gap, we consider Asia as method’s critical syncretism is the means to show the interplay between different knowledges. Critic…
School alumni associations in modern Australia as transcultural conduits of migrant identity
The literature illustrates that there has been relatively little specific research undertaken on the ways in which pre-migration school connections might have influenced the individual or group migration experience to Australia. Such influence is evident with migrants from Sri Lanka (Ceylon), a gap that the authors have identified in previous work. This paper attempts to bridge this research space by reporting on a pilot study into how Sri Lankan…
Fundamental British values’
Attempts to locate 'Britishness' within a context of loyalty to a set of shared values, have drawn upon discourses rooted in both contemporary and Imperial British histories. A central plank of the approach adopted since the early 2010s is the 'Fundamental British Values' (FBV), emerging from the British counter-terror strategy Prevent (2011). This paper interrogates the responses of school staff to the FBV, particularly expressions of discomfort…
Empty Britain? Hegemony and ambiguity in British education policy
The role of schools in developing a sense of common British identity has taken centre stage in the face of ‘racialised’ accounts of violence during the twenty first century. In this paper, we argue that certain British education policy documents can be understood as hegemonic interventions seeking to resolve ambiguities surrounding constructions of British identity. We do so by examining the Department for Education (DfE) ‘Fundamental British Val…
A void like the plague
This essay is a reflection on Albert Camus's revival during the COVID-19 pandemic of the early 2020s. The popularity of Camus's novel, The Plague, is considered alongside his other writing as something that speaks to many throughout their lives. Such appraisal is interspersed with personal reflections on family life during pandemic lockdowns and the ways that Camus's thought resounds in our everyday selves. Written in two parts at different times…
Friendship's resonance
Ventriloquism as Method
This article argues for ventriloquism as a method of (post)qualitative inquiry for appropriating the voice of the Other and amplifying multi-voiced selves. Thinking with embodied figures, ventriloquism captures philosophical conceptions of the subject and object through the self and other. To sustain the existence of 'abject' voices, we orient readers' attention to the creative feature of the 'material dimension' through literary devices. The del…
Leadership of cultural education in the current age
A key features of the globalised environment of the twenty-first century is that populations across a range of societies have become more diverse in culture, heritage and identity. In turn, this has led to further emphasis on the teaching of cultural understanding in schools, as exemplified by the Australian Curriculum and their equivalents in countries such as Singapore, India and New Zealand. However, educational research has tended to focus on…
Friendly fields
Feeling at home on the field of play offers insights into sport as a social experience between humans and the non-human world. Players, in whatever sport, but especially outdoor team sports, engage with each other and their environment. Take soccer, for instance. Beyond the mercenary dominance of FIFA and the competitive machismo of many player and fans, a universal cultural experience remains – one that is contingent on environmental circumstanc…
Dialectic of Enlightenment in the Anglosphere
Provoking elite schools' defences
Elite schools, both private and public, consistently top metrics of success around the world. This article mobilises an antistrophon – turning an argument against itself – to expose elite schools’ rhetorical defences. As part of this device, four provocations are offered – knowledge, excellence, merit, values – that coincide with elite schools’ identity. These provocations are explored in light of a growing global corpus of scholarship on elite s…
Young people’s perceptions of power and influence as a basis for understanding contemporary citizenship
Persistent simplistic binary discourses of young people’s citizenship portray them either as civically deficit and disengaged citizens or the creators of new democratic modes and approaches. This paper draws on field research with two groups of young people in Australia to better recognise the nuance of young people’s experiences of citizenship, power and influence. The study investigated the extent to which different groups of young people belie…
In the Realm of the Senses
Approaching methodology creatively
Elite schools around the world aspire to produce perfect students and yet there are always obstacles to this perfection being achieved. In this paper, we suggest that this process of perfectionism and obstruction can best be understood using a methodology that looks to the creative arts, rather than the usual social science orthodoxies. Our focus in this paper is therefore not on methodology as a technique, but rather methodology as a resource fo…
Reach for the stars
This paper offers a method for examining elite schools in a global setting by appropriating Theodor Adorno's constellational approach. I contend that arranging ideas and themes in a non-deterministic fashion can illuminate the social reality of elite schools. Drawing on my own fieldwork at an elite school in Argentina, I suggest that local and global determinants in the school's past contribute to its current, and relatively recent, elite status.…
Ventriloquism as Method
This article argues for ventriloquism as a method of (post)qualitative inquiry for appropriating the voice of the Other and amplifying multi-voiced selves. Thinking with embodied figures, ventriloquism captures philosophical conceptions of the subject and object through the self and other. To sustain the existence of 'abject' voices, we orient readers' attention to the creative feature of the 'material dimension' through literary devices. The del…
Approaching methodology creatively
Elite schools around the world aspire to produce perfect students and yet there are always obstacles to this perfection being achieved. In this paper, we suggest that this process of perfectionism and obstruction can best be understood using a methodology that looks to the creative arts, rather than the usual social science orthodoxies. Our focus in this paper is therefore not on methodology as a technique, but rather methodology as a resource fo…
Provoking elite schools' defences
Elite schools, both private and public, consistently top metrics of success around the world. This article mobilises an antistrophon – turning an argument against itself – to expose elite schools’ rhetorical defences. As part of this device, four provocations are offered – knowledge, excellence, merit, values – that coincide with elite schools’ identity. These provocations are explored in light of a growing global corpus of scholarship on elite s…
Young people’s perceptions of power and influence as a basis for understanding contemporary citizenship
Persistent simplistic binary discourses of young people’s citizenship portray them either as civically deficit and disengaged citizens or the creators of new democratic modes and approaches. This paper draws on field research with two groups of young people in Australia to better recognise the nuance of young people’s experiences of citizenship, power and influence. The study investigated the extent to which different groups of young people belie…
Speech-thinking and translation
This article explores the practice of translation, in dialogue with Rosenstock-Huessy’s sociological philosophy. The intention is to reinvigorate his concept of ‘speech-thinking’ and shed light on the intricate relationship between language, thought, and reality. Through an exploration of translation’s position at the interface of cultural otherness, we argue that speech-thinking offers deep analytical insight into the inner workings of human exi…
Amplifying critical syncretism in Asia as method
Asia as method, in decolonial thinking, endorses the value of local knowledge while concurrently recognising colonial and global knowledges’ ongoing influence and potential value in knowledge production. Yet, how to apply Asia as method and articulate the diverse traditions of knowledge(s) is underexplored. To address this gap, we consider Asia as method’s critical syncretism is the means to show the interplay between different knowledges. Critic…
A void like the plague
This essay is a reflection on Albert Camus's revival during the COVID-19 pandemic of the early 2020s. The popularity of Camus's novel, The Plague, is considered alongside his other writing as something that speaks to many throughout their lives. Such appraisal is interspersed with personal reflections on family life during pandemic lockdowns and the ways that Camus's thought resounds in our everyday selves. Written in two parts at different times…
Reach for the stars
This paper offers a method for examining elite schools in a global setting by appropriating Theodor Adorno's constellational approach. I contend that arranging ideas and themes in a non-deterministic fashion can illuminate the social reality of elite schools. Drawing on my own fieldwork at an elite school in Argentina, I suggest that local and global determinants in the school's past contribute to its current, and relatively recent, elite status.…
Reach for the stars
This paper offers a method for examining elite schools in a global setting by appropriating Theodor Adorno's constellational approach. I contend that arranging ideas and themes in a non-deterministic fashion can illuminate the social reality of elite schools. Drawing on my own fieldwork at an elite school in Argentina, I suggest that local and global determinants in the school's past contribute to its current, and relatively recent, elite status.…
In the Realm of the Senses
Approaching methodology creatively
Elite schools around the world aspire to produce perfect students and yet there are always obstacles to this perfection being achieved. In this paper, we suggest that this process of perfectionism and obstruction can best be understood using a methodology that looks to the creative arts, rather than the usual social science orthodoxies. Our focus in this paper is therefore not on methodology as a technique, but rather methodology as a resource fo…
Young people’s perceptions of power and influence as a basis for understanding contemporary citizenship
Persistent simplistic binary discourses of young people’s citizenship portray them either as civically deficit and disengaged citizens or the creators of new democratic modes and approaches. This paper draws on field research with two groups of young people in Australia to better recognise the nuance of young people’s experiences of citizenship, power and influence. The study investigated the extent to which different groups of young people belie…
Dialectic of Enlightenment in the Anglosphere
Provoking elite schools' defences
Elite schools, both private and public, consistently top metrics of success around the world. This article mobilises an antistrophon – turning an argument against itself – to expose elite schools’ rhetorical defences. As part of this device, four provocations are offered – knowledge, excellence, merit, values – that coincide with elite schools’ identity. These provocations are explored in light of a growing global corpus of scholarship on elite s…
Friendly fields
Feeling at home on the field of play offers insights into sport as a social experience between humans and the non-human world. Players, in whatever sport, but especially outdoor team sports, engage with each other and their environment. Take soccer, for instance. Beyond the mercenary dominance of FIFA and the competitive machismo of many player and fans, a universal cultural experience remains – one that is contingent on environmental circumstanc…
Leadership of cultural education in the current age
A key features of the globalised environment of the twenty-first century is that populations across a range of societies have become more diverse in culture, heritage and identity. In turn, this has led to further emphasis on the teaching of cultural understanding in schools, as exemplified by the Australian Curriculum and their equivalents in countries such as Singapore, India and New Zealand. However, educational research has tended to focus on…
Empty Britain? Hegemony and ambiguity in British education policy
The role of schools in developing a sense of common British identity has taken centre stage in the face of ‘racialised’ accounts of violence during the twenty first century. In this paper, we argue that certain British education policy documents can be understood as hegemonic interventions seeking to resolve ambiguities surrounding constructions of British identity. We do so by examining the Department for Education (DfE) ‘Fundamental British Val…
A void like the plague
This essay is a reflection on Albert Camus's revival during the COVID-19 pandemic of the early 2020s. The popularity of Camus's novel, The Plague, is considered alongside his other writing as something that speaks to many throughout their lives. Such appraisal is interspersed with personal reflections on family life during pandemic lockdowns and the ways that Camus's thought resounds in our everyday selves. Written in two parts at different times…
Friendship's resonance
Ventriloquism as Method
This article argues for ventriloquism as a method of (post)qualitative inquiry for appropriating the voice of the Other and amplifying multi-voiced selves. Thinking with embodied figures, ventriloquism captures philosophical conceptions of the subject and object through the self and other. To sustain the existence of 'abject' voices, we orient readers' attention to the creative feature of the 'material dimension' through literary devices. The del…
Fundamental British values’
Attempts to locate 'Britishness' within a context of loyalty to a set of shared values, have drawn upon discourses rooted in both contemporary and Imperial British histories. A central plank of the approach adopted since the early 2010s is the 'Fundamental British Values' (FBV), emerging from the British counter-terror strategy Prevent (2011). This paper interrogates the responses of school staff to the FBV, particularly expressions of discomfort…
Counter-narrative as method
This article addresses the ethical question concerning how educational research helps immigrant teachers gain authority and ownership over their self-understanding and self-becoming. By critically examining prior research and analysing the dominant discourse surrounding this specific group, we highlight the limitations and ethical implications of existing findings. We problematise current methodological approaches ito advocate for the necessity o…
Performing my other self
In this article, we employ creative methodologies that enable an immigrant individual to speak out about their lived realities. Drawing on Kristeva’s notion of creative mimesis, performative writing is used to carve out new spaces for understanding the interplay between languages, cultures, and societies. Engaging with an anonymous letter that garnered widespread attention on Chinese social media [我奋斗了18年才和你坐在一起喝咖啡], this article demonstrates how…
Speech-thinking and translation
This article explores the practice of translation, in dialogue with Rosenstock-Huessy’s sociological philosophy. The intention is to reinvigorate his concept of ‘speech-thinking’ and shed light on the intricate relationship between language, thought, and reality. Through an exploration of translation’s position at the interface of cultural otherness, we argue that speech-thinking offers deep analytical insight into the inner workings of human exi…
On magical nominalism
This interview with Martin Jay took place in January 2025. The conversation focuses on the conceptual elements of his book Magical Nominalism: The Historical Event, Aesthetic Reenchantment, and the Photograph (2025). Attention is given to the place of nominalism within philosophy and in connection to critical theory, history, and art. With a mind to his contribution to all these areas, as the Ehrman Professor of European History Emeritus at Unive…
Amplifying critical syncretism in Asia as method
Asia as method, in decolonial thinking, endorses the value of local knowledge while concurrently recognising colonial and global knowledges’ ongoing influence and potential value in knowledge production. Yet, how to apply Asia as method and articulate the diverse traditions of knowledge(s) is underexplored. To address this gap, we consider Asia as method’s critical syncretism is the means to show the interplay between different knowledges. Critic…
School alumni associations in modern Australia as transcultural conduits of migrant identity
The literature illustrates that there has been relatively little specific research undertaken on the ways in which pre-migration school connections might have influenced the individual or group migration experience to Australia. Such influence is evident with migrants from Sri Lanka (Ceylon), a gap that the authors have identified in previous work. This paper attempts to bridge this research space by reporting on a pilot study into how Sri Lankan…
Choose Your Own Methodology
Researchers must make original contributions to knowledge while conforming to methodological conventions. This article explores this paradox, arguing that methodological “choice” functions as a dispositif , an apparatus that governs conduct by structuring available options. Rather than merely describing this constraint, the text enacts it. Written as a Choose Your Own Adventure story, it invites readers to navigate a doctoral researcher’s apparen…
Paths to nowhere
This interview with the philosopher Raymond Geuss, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, explores the questions animating his 2026 book Tracks in Chaos: Philosophical Orientation and Political Reflection (Polity). The book's title invokes Heidegger's image of the Holzweg – forest tracks cut through labour that often lead nowhere – which Geuss develops into a figure for philosophy as a historically situated, constrained,…
Engineering civility
This article introduces two concepts from contemporary social-theory to Global Citizenship Education (GCED) to offer ways of thinking about teaching and learning in the face of anti-democratic politics. The first part discusses such politics in relation to GCED which, in its critical and liberal modes, seeks to instil confidence in democratic ideals. The second part delineates Wendy Brown’s critique of ‘nihilism’ and Jeffrey Alexander’s idea of ‘…
Sociology (17 works) · Political science (10 works) · Psychology (10 works) · Aesthetics (9 works) · Global Education and Multiculturalism (9 works) · Law (9 works) · Politics (8 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Art (6 works) · Law (6 works)