Commons are self-organized, self-governed, autonomous networks and organizations that function outside the state and the private sector. They are emerging around the world as people recognize that the state and private sector have increasingly closed off access to basic resources and services. People want increased power to determine their political, economic, and social lives. Reimagining Leadership on the Commons includes leadership approaches derived from a complex, adaptive, open, whole systems perspective and a more relational, distributed, and collaborative paradigm that recognizes that rather than being individualist self-maximizers: people prefer to work together to share benefits and found a society based on ethical behavior, equality, and justice. This is essential reading for researchers of commons, leadership practitioners, and non-profits working towards a more ethical, equitable, and just world.

Capitalism is in crisis and, according to some, on the verge of collapse. Will this dying system give way to a commons-centric society as many scholars and activists predict? Will leadership become an antedated function, no longer needed in the self-organized, collaborative commons? These questions inspired the author of Proleptic Leadership on the Commons: Ushering in a New Global Order to explore the history of the commons movement, the recent systems frameworks that carve out a transformational commons path forward, and the leadership theories that honor the chaos and complexity of our times and encourage emergent change toward a more egalitarian society based on care, obligation, and collaboration. Viewing the commons as a vehicle for a new world order, Randal Joy Thompson proposes 'proleptic leadership', which envisions how leaders will continue to be essential in a commons-centric world as the custodians of responsible agency and conscious choice. Mapping out how leaders can achieve higher levels of consciousness and traverse liminal space in order to be ethical and caring agents of change, this book challenges us to reflect on our commitment to creating a more nurturing future, and evaluate how our own qualities might help manifest, or perhaps hinder, that future.

We live in an era of drastic changes in relationships between countries and of unprecedented responses to both old and emerging global challenges. Working alongside leaders in developing countries, leaders in international foreign aid and development organizations, non-governmental organizations, and private foundations and companies have driven dramatic changes in our approach to these challenges and to international development more generally. Yet little has been written from the perspective of the leaders telling their stories about leading and navigating the tangle of forces acting upon the course of international development. And even less is known about how leading in international development contexts should be modelled in a way that fosters the development of the next generation of leaders. Leadership and Power in International Development: Navigating the Intersections of Gender, Culture, Context, and Sustainability brings scholarship up-todate with practice, collecting the stories and reflections of twenty leaders from Africa, Asia, Europe, Canada, and the United States, many of whom have extensive experience leading within major international organizations. In clear, straightforward narratives, the contributors gathered here highlight their diverse experiences with context, culture, power, gender and sustainability, and they offer strategies and lessons learned derived from their own challenges and successes. Building on these narratives, the book offers a new model or framework for leading in international development contexts. Through an innovative practice to theory process, the first chapter of the book, written by co-editor Julia Storberg-Walker, provides an original analysis of the chapter narratives, and presents a framework for successfully leading international development projects in the 21st century. The framework can be used for designing leadership development programs as well as for future research in leading in international development contexts. Leadership and Power in International Development is essential reading for development leaders, practitioners, and scholars as they continue to confront the complexity of contemporary power-politics.