Peter Case seminar abstract

Case, Peter

Abstract

Concerned about the ethnocentric assumptions of much Western dominated and corporatist-oriented theories of leadership, there is a growing body of literature that calls for anthropologically-informed empirical research on leadership phenomena in non-Western and non-Anglophone settings. In this seminar, I take up this challenge by exploring conceptions, expressions and enactments of authority in a non-Anglophone context. I offer an (auto)ethnographic account of a personal journey toward ‘passing’ as a leader (phu nam) whilst working in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. The study covers the period 2011-2019 during which I acted as a foreigner advisor in Laos, employed to run a series of international development initiatives designed to improve agricultural productivity and assist the Government of Lao meet Millennium Development Goals with respect to food security and poverty reduction. A Leadership-As-Practice lens is employed to reveal processes of learning with respect to the politics, sociomateriality and embodied enactment of leadership in Laos. Three phases of ‘becoming phu nam’ are identified and illustrated using (auto)ethnographic data. The presentation thus aims to offer anthropological insight into leadership practices as indigenously understood in a non-Anglophone context. It will also attempt to demonstrate that, by attending to sociomaterial and spatial aspects of the phenomenon, our practical understanding of how we learn about leadership can be improved. Intentional efforts to exercise authority in any setting raises ethical concerns that demand close consideration. I shall conclude by offering some reflections on such issues based on my experiences of working in international development and global health spaces.

• Presentation Conference Type: Keynote
• Conference Name: Centre for Research on Work and Organisations seminar, University of Southampton
• Start Date: Feb 3, 2021
• End Date: Feb 3, 2021
• Deposit Date: Aug 23, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 23, 2022
• Keywords: Leadership, linguistics, ethnography, anthropology, Laos, Lao PDR
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9903098
• Related Public URLs: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/business-school/research/centres/organisational-behaviour-human-resource-research-group.page