Beyond “Leadership”

Abstract

Having established the ontological complicity of the embedded and embodied auctor I now turn my attention to the contemporary focus of thought and analysis in educational administration: ``leadership.'' Specifically, my argument is that rigorous and robust social scientific inquiry of organizing activity calls into question the very foundations of popular labels such as ``leadership,'' ``management,'' and ``administration.'' Working relationally and building on the argument of the previous chapter, I seek to not only problematize ``leadership'' but to understand it through new terms. These terms unsettle many of the normative assumptions regarding ``leadership'' and its explanatory value. And in the face of the recasting of our ways of thinking about organizing activity outlined in this book, it may well be that the work of educational administration scholars will increasingly involve such recasting procedures, making the everyday experiences of organizational life strange.