TOWARD AN INTERPRETIVE APPROACH TO SOCIAL MOVEMENT LEADERSHIP

The concept of a leader is one of the most fundamental to the study of collective behavior. It is also one of the most poorly theorized, primarily because social movement theorists continue to (1) assume that leaders must be affiliated with an organization and (2) argue over who "counts" as a leader. This paper offers two alternative approaches. I argue, first, that our current conceptualization must be broadened to include individuals who are unaffiliated with an organization. Second, I suggest that rather than debating who qualifiesand does not qualify as a movement leader, we would do better totake an interpretive approach to the study of leadership; that is, we should treat as a leader any individual who is perceived as one — be it by the public, the media, politicians, or other movement participants. These two approacheswill resultin a much fuller theoretical picture of movement leaders.