I’ve rushed to get this podcast out because it is so very timely. And perhaps also because I am feeling a bit more hopeful about resistance here and now.
In fact, I was so heartened to read that Harvard was standing up to the frightful and unAmerican demands of the Trump administration that I went online and bought some Harvard swag. I’ve been a Harvard affiliate for several years (associate in research at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies) but I do not wear clothes with brands or labels of any kind. But this is going to be an exception: I won’t wear the hoodie or tshirt at Harvard itself, where I’ll be spending a week later this month, but elsewhere I’ll be happy to sport the name.
Join the conversation with Keith Grint, a well-known UK leadership scholar whom I met when we were working on the Encyclopedia of Leadership for SAGE. I always look forward to seeing him when I’m in the UK, and was delighted to receive a copy of his new book, A Cartography of Resistance.
The book goes from the Roman Empire to the US occupation of Iraq, but our conversation focuses on Keith’s chapters about the resistance to the Nazis. We talk about why universities and intellectuals are among the first targets, how knitting was used in the resistance to the Nazis, and the vital role of communications, messaging, and organization. A notable example Keith talks about is Sefton Delmer, a genius of propaganda who worked on behalf of the Allies in World War II (see link in Show Notes. We also consider the ways in which resistance movements can arise from a claim, often imaginary, of stolen glory—as with the Ku Klux Klan, the invasion of Ukraine, and the J6 assault on the US Capitol. Keith’s work wraps up with a survey of rhetorical devices used in resistance movements.
Show Notes
Keith Grint is Professor Emeritus at Warwick University and founding co-editor with David Collinson of the journal Leadership. He also co-founded the International Studying Leadership Conference. His most recent books include: Leadership, Management & Command: Rethinking D-Day (2008); Leadership: A Very Short Introduction (2010); and Mutiny and Leadership (2021).
A Cartography of Resistance: Leadership, Management, and Command by Keith Grint (Oxford University Press). Table of Contents.
Historical insights: Universities in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union thought giving in to government demands would save their independence by Iveta Silova in The Conversation
Sefton Delmer: The Man Who Used Nazi Propaganda to Help the Allies Win (TIME)
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