Estelle E. Archibold, PhD

I am an organizational researcher who uses mixed and multi-modal research methods to study generative conflict, emotion work, ethical voice, as well as social innovations in organizations. For example, I use institutional work and embodiment theory to investigate the impact of conflict on the emotion work of equity leaders, ethical voice of change agents, and social movements that yield social innovations that address social and economic disparities. My research draws on insights from more than fifteen (15) years of academic study and practice in conflict transformation, community and public health, reconciliation and ethics in the United States and abroad in countries such as Liberia and Ghana in West Africa and other countries in the Middle East. 

I developed a theory of generative conflict based on a multi-year enactive ethnography, "The Role of Disruptions and Disruptor Identity in Generative Conflict: Setting the Conditions for Conflict Reflexivity in Teams During the COVID-19 Pandemic." In this ongoing research, I study the work of equity leaders in a public agency, and their abilities to navigate and transform racial conflict as a part of a broader institutional social movement in their city. In my research, I employ multiple methods of data generation (including ethnographic field work, digital methods, and experimental vignettes), as well as data analysis (including grounded theory, narrative analysis, thematic analysis and gestural analysis). This generative work lays the foundation for several empirical studies and manuscripts.

My prior executive coaching practice supported leaders, managers and teams experiencing conflict among members and followers during organizational mergers and reorganizations. I worked across several sectors including business, government, non-governmental organizations, public health, international development and education. I apply what I learn from my research to support the development of cross-stakeholder partnerships among non-governmental organizations, corporations, universities, school districts and public agencies working on the world's most pressing problems such as economic security, environmental and social sustainability issues like climate change, environmental justice and food insecurity. 

Currently, I collaborate with scholars and practitioners to explore the impact of cross-cultural transformative leadership, restorative justice and social movements on public policy discourse and decision-making. I also use my research to work cross-culturally with communities and institutions in the United States and abroad who seek to transform conflict following organizational, social and political conflicts and crises.