Dissensual Leadership: Rethinking democratic leadership with Jacques Rancière

Abstract

The democratic leadership literature emphasises those leadership practices that involve dialogue and communication within the frame of reference of existing organizational structures, discourses and hierarchies. Our contribution is to problematise this approach to democracy from the perspective of the work of Jacques Rancière, which highlights the importance of dissensus, that is to say a breaking away from organizational structures and hierarchies. We argue that this allows us to conceptualise collective leadership in a postfoundational way that connects a critique of individual and organization-bound leadership to a democratic logic, in particular through Rancière’s analysis of the myth of the murder of the shepherd. This also enables us to study radically disruptive, non-hierarchical and pre-dialogic dimensions of leadership that may destruct as well as construct. Two democratic leadership practices are outlined: contingent acts of leadership and the practice of radical contestation. Our argument is that both practices of democratic leadership can be deployed as radical ruptures and disruptions of organizational orders, beyond dialogue.

Twitter as a leadership actor — A communication as constitutive of organizing perspective on a ‘leaderless’ social movement

“…In true democratic movements, activists disrupt authoritarian power to have their own voice heard through contingent acts. Barthold et al (2020) assert that participative dialogue, which “in itself can be thought of as leadership,” is vital to both collaborative and democratic forms of leadership, but they maintain that these forms of leadership are distinct (p. 6). “Dissensus” is crucial in democratic forms of leadership, meaning that people voicing their concerns need to be recognized as legitimate and allowed to question authority (Barthold et al, 2020).…”

“…Barthold et al (2020) assert that participative dialogue, which “in itself can be thought of as leadership,” is vital to both collaborative and democratic forms of leadership, but they maintain that these forms of leadership are distinct (p. 6). “Dissensus” is crucial in democratic forms of leadership, meaning that people voicing their concerns need to be recognized as legitimate and allowed to question authority (Barthold et al, 2020). Anyone with internet access and basic technological knowledge can post a tweet, but to be recognized as a legitimate voice on Twitter requires producing social capital in a complex process.…”

“…We investigated movement leadership dynamics in the platform environment of contentious politics and argue that leadership is not limited to individual leaders, but is instead a relational process with "far-reaching influence" on people's "values, ideals, aspirations, emotions and identities" (Alvesson and Spicer, 2012: p. 384). We also argue that leadership is a necessary process for questioning authority in problematic power relations (Alvesson and Spicer, 2012;Barthold et al, 2020;Zoller and Fairhurst, 2007). This broader conception of leadership, combined with the technological developments in communicative practices, demand scholarly attention so we can understand how power dynamics unfold in the digitally networked cultural, political, and economic landscape.…”

Get vaccinated or else…employees’ perspective on mandatory vaccination in the retail sector in Zimbabwe

“…The paper proceeds to look into aspects involving employee involvement and participation. Methodology used in the paper is discussed Barthold et al (2022) before the presentation of findings and discussion. The paper continues to attend to recommendations before it concludes with a conclusion section.…”

El liderazgo democrático y el desempeño laboral de los trabajadores del rubro de pollerías del sector gastronómico de Lima Metropolitana, 2021

“…Kotter (2011) considera que el liderazgo consiste en la generación de estrategias organizacionales para llevar a cabo un proceso de influencia de un superior sobre un grupo para el logro de objetivos; por lo que, es necesario un conjunto humano altamente motivado y comprometido para dicho fin. Barthold et al (2020) explican que el liderazgo son aquellas prácticas llevadas a cabo por los gerentes y jefes que involucran la comunicación y el diálogo dentro de estructuras organizacionales.…”