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The leadership component of Kelly’s Mobilisation Theory :
contribution, tensions, limitations and further development

Darlington, RR

The leadership component of Kelly’s Mobilisation Theory :
contribution, tensions, limitations and further development Thumbnail


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Abstract

This reassessment of Kelly’s analysis of the relationship of activist leadership to collective action within the overall jigsaw of mobilisation theory draws on social movement literature, studies by industrial relations scholars utilising aspects of Kelly’s approach – including this author’s own work – and related research on union leadership within collective mobilisation. In the process, it identifies and celebrates how Kelly’s work, whilst contributing a distinct and substantive actor-related approach, recognised that leadership is one ingredient amongst other factors, including important structural opportunities and constraints. It considers three potential ambiguities/tensions within Kelly’s conceptualisation of leadership related to the social construction of workers’ interests, spontaneity of workers’ action and the ‘leader/follower’ interplay. The review also identifies two important limitations, related to the union member/bureaucracy dynamic and the role of left-wing political leadership, and concludes by signalling different forms of leadership relationships on which further refinement and development would be fruitful.

Citation

contribution, tensions, limitations and further development. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 39(4), 617-638. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X18777609

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 1, 2018
Online Publication Date Aug 2, 2018
Publication Date Nov 1, 2018
Deposit Date Mar 20, 2018
Publicly Available Date Aug 13, 2018
Journal Economic and Industrial Democracy
Print ISSN 0143-831X
Electronic ISSN 1461-7099
Publisher SAGE Publications
Volume 39
Issue 4
Pages 617-638
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X18777609
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X18777609
Related Public URLs http://journals.sagepub.com/home/eid

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