When you think of anarchism, leaders probably don’t spring to mind. Anarchism is known for its rejection of authority. But what exactly is leadership, and ho...
They don’t need to be formal leaders to be leaders. In a cooperative video game it’s pretty normal to have everyone just milling about until one or two people take charge of organizing. You might have one person herd a party together while another informs on strategies and organizes people into roles. They’re often not even the leader of the party as designated by the game; it’s the social dynamic of deferring to someone who seems to know what they’re doing that matters.
They don’t need to be formal leaders to be leaders.
Here’s the thing… leadership is never a formal thing. They even acknowledge this in military writings (though never directly) - even old Sun Tzu drew a distinction between someone who is followed due to trust and respect and someone who merely has a rank.
This presents us with a golden opportunity to redefine what this term means - not just for those familiar with radical politics, but for those who aren’t, too. If our much stronger and sensible understanding of leadership contrasts starkly with the wishy-washy esotericism the term is ladden with in the hierarchical world - well, let’s just say that you can’t buy that kind of propaganda.
They don’t need to be formal leaders to be leaders. In a cooperative video game it’s pretty normal to have everyone just milling about until one or two people take charge of organizing. You might have one person herd a party together while another informs on strategies and organizes people into roles. They’re often not even the leader of the party as designated by the game; it’s the social dynamic of deferring to someone who seems to know what they’re doing that matters.
Here’s the thing… leadership is never a formal thing. They even acknowledge this in military writings (though never directly) - even old Sun Tzu drew a distinction between someone who is followed due to trust and respect and someone who merely has a rank.
This presents us with a golden opportunity to redefine what this term means - not just for those familiar with radical politics, but for those who aren’t, too. If our much stronger and sensible understanding of leadership contrasts starkly with the wishy-washy esotericism the term is ladden with in the hierarchical world - well, let’s just say that you can’t buy that kind of propaganda.