Judith Butler and Leadership: Reimagining Intelligibility, Social Change, and Leadership Discourse

Abstract

Although Judith Butler's body of work is complex, many of her arguments have the potential to help us understand and generate new leadership realities. How Butler conceptualizes the concepts of intelligibility, performativity, discourse, and social change all have implications for the practice of leadership. The use of a critical leadership approach permits the exploration of parallels between her writings and two contemporary approaches to leadership: the Social Change Model of Leadership and adaptive leadership. Through the application of Butler's work to contemporary leadership discourse, the potential to render a broader range of subjects intelligible as leaders and to catalyze social change is explored.