Establishing Trustworthiness. Studying Leaders and Mobilisation in Two Social Movements in India

<span class="abs_content">This paper enhances social movement studies by offering a strongly relational understanding of leader-follower relations for a better understanding of social movement mobilisation. It offers a conceptual framework around leadership styles, conflicts over rol...

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Main Authors: Miriam Wenner, Silva Lieberherr
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Coordinamento SIBA 2022-03-01
Series:Partecipazione e Conflitto
Subjects:
Online Access:http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/paco/article/view/25075
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author Miriam Wenner
Silva Lieberherr
author_facet Miriam Wenner
Silva Lieberherr
author_sort Miriam Wenner
collection DOAJ
description <span class="abs_content">This paper enhances social movement studies by offering a strongly relational understanding of leader-follower relations for a better understanding of social movement mobilisation. It offers a conceptual framework around leadership styles, conflicts over roles, and normative moral values. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and intensive interactions with leaders and supporters of two social movements in India (the Gorkhaland movement in northern West Bengal, and the farmers' movements groups in Vidharba), we claim that especially leaders' trustworthiness is a necessary element in social movement mobilisation. We use the concept of trust work to highlight the various strategies that leaders employ to generate trust between themselves and their supporters and to analyse their outcomes of their efforts. Especially important is leaders' boundary work of establishing and transcending differences between an anticipated virtuous movement and dirty politics. Epistemologically, we propose that a relational approach is best suited to highlight the contested and dynamic nature of leader–follower relations. The generation of trust, we show, can best be understood at local and covert sites where leaders combine their commitment for movement issues with support for their prospective followers' struggles for survival.</span><br />
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spelling doaj.art-5679ee47f3064ea587407c4a24020e9b2023-09-20T07:59:58ZengCoordinamento SIBAPartecipazione e Conflitto1972-76232035-66092022-03-0115127428910.1285/i20356609v15i1p27421757Establishing Trustworthiness. Studying Leaders and Mobilisation in Two Social Movements in IndiaMiriam Wenner0Silva Lieberherr1Georg-August-University GöttingenUniversity of Basel<span class="abs_content">This paper enhances social movement studies by offering a strongly relational understanding of leader-follower relations for a better understanding of social movement mobilisation. It offers a conceptual framework around leadership styles, conflicts over roles, and normative moral values. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and intensive interactions with leaders and supporters of two social movements in India (the Gorkhaland movement in northern West Bengal, and the farmers' movements groups in Vidharba), we claim that especially leaders' trustworthiness is a necessary element in social movement mobilisation. We use the concept of trust work to highlight the various strategies that leaders employ to generate trust between themselves and their supporters and to analyse their outcomes of their efforts. Especially important is leaders' boundary work of establishing and transcending differences between an anticipated virtuous movement and dirty politics. Epistemologically, we propose that a relational approach is best suited to highlight the contested and dynamic nature of leader–follower relations. The generation of trust, we show, can best be understood at local and covert sites where leaders combine their commitment for movement issues with support for their prospective followers' struggles for survival.</span><br />http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/paco/article/view/25075agrarian crisisboundary workgorkhalandleadershipfarmers' movementrelational ethnography
spellingShingle Miriam Wenner
Silva Lieberherr
Establishing Trustworthiness. Studying Leaders and Mobilisation in Two Social Movements in India
Partecipazione e Conflitto
agrarian crisis
boundary work
gorkhaland
leadership
farmers' movement
relational ethnography
title Establishing Trustworthiness. Studying Leaders and Mobilisation in Two Social Movements in India
title_full Establishing Trustworthiness. Studying Leaders and Mobilisation in Two Social Movements in India
title_fullStr Establishing Trustworthiness. Studying Leaders and Mobilisation in Two Social Movements in India
title_full_unstemmed Establishing Trustworthiness. Studying Leaders and Mobilisation in Two Social Movements in India
title_short Establishing Trustworthiness. Studying Leaders and Mobilisation in Two Social Movements in India
title_sort establishing trustworthiness studying leaders and mobilisation in two social movements in india
topic agrarian crisis
boundary work
gorkhaland
leadership
farmers' movement
relational ethnography
url http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/paco/article/view/25075
work_keys_str_mv AT miriamwenner establishingtrustworthinessstudyingleadersandmobilisationintwosocialmovementsinindia
AT silvalieberherr establishingtrustworthinessstudyingleadersandmobilisationintwosocialmovementsinindia