Organisational leadership and/for sustainability: future directions from John Dewey and social movements

Citation

Howieson WB, Burnes B & Summers JC (2019) Organisational leadership and/for sustainability: future directions from John Dewey and social movements. European Management Journal, 37 (6), pp. 687-693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2019.02.003

Abstract
In this paper, we suggest that organisational leadership that is based (generally) on a neoliberal paradigm has contributed to an ‘intolerable situation’ that was recognised at the United Nations (2015a) Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We, therefore, attempt to re-frame organisational leadership based on a sustainability paradigm. In doing so, we draw on John Dewey’s thinking on publics: due to the need for greater stakeholder involvement in identifying how sustainability could be achieved and increasing pressure from governments, campaigning groups and public opinion for organisations to expand their boundaries further to interact with, and take seriously, the needs of the communities that they affect. Then―and for the implementation of this re-frame and cognizant of the community requirement―we will offer that guidance may be drawn from the emerging social movements literature, specifically the importance of narration, mobilisation and organisation. Finally, we present a revised framework for organisational leadership that is based on this sustainability paradigm.

Keywords
Leadership; Framing; John Dewey; Social Movements

Journal
European Management Journal: Volume 37, Issue 6

• Accepted manuscript