Paradoxes of Citizenship: Desire, Responsibility, Interdependence in Leadership and Followership

Dear Potential Participants,

Leaders and followers have to find ways to deal with the ambiguity, contradictions and uncertainties in this increasingly changing complex external organizational post-epidemic era environment. 

This requires taking responsibility of working through the tensions as there are many: war versus peace, human intelligence versus artificial intelligence, change versus continuity; growth versus sustainability; innovating versus operating to stay safe; collaboration versus competition; risk taking versus avoidance; transformation versus stagnancy; perversion versus compassion. 

These are not binary positions and contain multiple paradoxes. 

The 25th GRC ALI ‘Paradoxes of Citizenship: Desire, Responsibility, Interdependency in Leadership and Followership’ is aimed at offering a space to explore aspirations and choices leaders and followers are faced with in the current social, political, organisational and professional environments. 

Coming together offer opportunities for connectedness with the human side, acknowledging that similarities and differences across the intersectionality of age, gender, race, culture, nationality, religion, class, political affiliations (to name a few) can lead to anxieties around the risk of speaking up, inclusion/exclusion and fear of being alienated.

Whilst, trust is generated through experiences in relationships, inherent relational interdependencies have to be worked through. Difference offers potential for innovation, new ideas and transformation. 

The conference offers an opportunity to experience and address such paradoxes, connect with the sense of purpose and direction for effective functioning in current complex environment by exploring our desires, differences, interdependency and responsibility in our roles as leaders, followers and citizens. 

The 25th ALI will be the sixth edition in the Mediterranean. Crotone is a town of ancient heritage and a significant archaeological site of the Magna Grecia, that is the collective name given to a series of Greek colonies in Southern Italy. It is the town of Pythagoras and the Pythagorean school credited with significant development in mathematics and music. A town known in ancient times for the success of its Olympian athletes and the quality of its surgeons. Crotone has seen a significant decline in its economy in recent decades. However, in recent years signs of new developments are visible. 

The location of the conference with its history opens up possibility of regeneration, hope and growth following times of crises. We as Directorate look forward to working with you in exploring many paradoxes of citizenship and the ways forward. 

Antonio & Amra

Antonio Sama and Amra Saleem Rao

Contact us for more information

Image credit: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Münzkabinett / Dr. Bernhard Weisser

Conference website (Italian)