What is it about?
When groups of people accept the authority of leaders and institutions, they express consensus about what is admirable about a good person and what counts as just and fair in social arrangements. But such consensus may not survive overwhelming cultural changes such as those produced by colonisation, plague or climate change. China Achebe's hugely influential novel "Things Fall Apart" examines this process in the colonisation of what became Nigeria. My paper considers what might relevant for leadership in other catastrophic changes.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
As we face the possibility that climate change, political disruption, war and migration could seriously disrupt the social fabric of every country, we should start to think about how we might ensure the continuity of humane, civilised society. Our definitions for what counts as civilised might have to change - but can we hold on to our dignity and our hope?
Perspectives
It seems to me to be quite possible that the qualities we admire as 'great' in people and institutions could turn out to be the opposite, or irrelevant, if conditions change radically. Disruption is likely - and this paper is part of preparing for it!
Prof Jonathan R Gosling
Exeter University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Will we know what counts as good leadership if Things Fall Apart? Questions prompted by Chinua Achebe’s novel, Leadership, February 2017, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1742715016680675.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
