My friend Alan Cawson, who has died aged 68 of a heart attack, had two distinguished academic careers: the first as a political scientist, noted for his theory of corporatism, and the second as a professor of digital media, introducing one of the world’s first degree courses in the subject at the University of Sussex. He retired early from academia to pursue interests in business and community organisations.
Born in Manchester, Alan and his brothers, John and David, spent their childhood split between boarding schools and living with their parents, Frank and Alice (nee Hullock), in the various countries where Frank worked for the British Council. This instilled in Alan an appreciation of different cultures and a particular passion for Africa.
He taught in Ghana at 17 before studying African and Asian studies and politics at Sussex. He met and married Vasiliki Margeti (Vicky), from Athens, in 1970. Their son, Martin, was born in Oxford, where Alan was studying for a DPhil, initially examining the politics of Ghana but then switching to history when a coup interrupted his fieldwork and led to the imprisonment of his informants.
He was appointed a lecturer at Sussex in 1975, returning to Brighton where his second son, Alexi, was born. His book Corporatism and Political Theory (1986) developed the idea that European democracies have devolved policy to organised interests in the shape of sectoral associations, trade unions, professions and, importantly, large firms. This argument, which would seem self-evident today, was challenged at the time, yet it was based on careful empirical research on major European firms, including Philips, the electronics group.
Appointed professor of politics in 1994, Alan worked increasingly on technology and innovation, introducing most of his audience to electronic presentations and internet browsing in his inaugural lecture. Later professor of digital media, he advised the government on technology policy and became active in the nascent creative-digital-IT cluster in Brighton.
In 2002 he retired from the academic world to work with digital businesses and communities, some involving Ghana. One of these was the Fiankoma Project, a digital exchange with Brighton schools. He worked on this, after his divorce from Vicky, with his partner of later years, Sarah Lee, the writer, researcher and film-maker.
Alan was a generous, funny and warm-hearted man, and is survived by Sarah, Martin and Alexi.
