A Cartography of Resistance Leadership, Management, and Command

Resistance is universal, but why does it occur, and fail or succeed? Resistance is often regarded in traditional management books as a problem to be overcome because it is seen as short-sighted or self-interested. Grint suggests, however, that resistance is not necessarily right or wrong. From resistance to the Roman Empire, to slavery, to the Nazis, to racism, to the state and capital, to patriarchy, and to imperialism, this book ranges across time and place to explain the success or failure of resistance.

While many contemporary approaches focus on leadership as the explanatory variable, A Cartography of Resistance expands the approach to include management and command of resistance movements - and of their opponents. Many of the case studies explore the failures, as well as the successes, of resistance and the book suggests that even the failures reveal a fundamental truth about the human condition: just because the situation looks bleak for those suffering from oppression does not mean they surrendered meekly. Rather many seemed to adopt the same attitude that led Sisyphus to keep rolling the boulder up the hill: they were determined not to let their situation define or defeat them.

Keith Grint, Emeritus Professor, Warwick Business School

Keith Grint is Professor Emeritus at Warwick University where he was Professor of Public Leadership until 2018. He spent 10 years working in various positions across a number of industry sectors before switching to an academic career. Since becoming an academic he has held Chairs at Cranfield University and Lancaster University and was Director of the Lancaster Leadership Centre. He spent twelve years teaching at Oxford University and was Director of Research at the Saïd Business School. He is a founding co-editor with David Collinson of the journal Leadership, and the International Studying Leadership Conference.

Part 1 Resistance in Theory1. What is Resistance?2. Why do (some) People Resist?3. Organizing and Suppressing the ResistancePart 2. Resisting Roman Imperialism4. Resisting Roman Imperialism in Gaul5. Resisting Roman Imperialism in Germania6. Resisting Roman Imperialism in BritanniaPart 3. Resisting Slavery7. Resisting Slavery in the British West Indies8. Resisting Slavery in French Saint-Domingue/HaitiPart 4. Resistance at Work9. The 1888 Match Workers' Strike and the Beginnings of New Unionism10. Class and Gender Resistance in the British Post OfficePart 5. Resisting the Nazis11. German Resistance to Hitler12. Dutch Resistance to the GermansPart 6. Resisting Military Traditions13. Military Racism: Red Tails and the American 332nd Fighter Group14. Military Patriarchy: Women Pilots in the British Air Transport AuxiliaryPart 7. Resisting Colonialism and Imperialism15. The British in Malaya16. The Americans in IraqConclusion17. Voiceless Subalterns: In Defence of the Missing18. Vocal Superordinates: Rhetorical Tropes in Defence of Privilege