“…At the level of the wicked problem continuum as a whole, wilding is motivated by a recognition that the status quo is not only problematic but, if left unchanged, will result in costly, catastrophic consequences. One experiences this tension between the taming pull of the status quo and the call for greater exploration and search for alternatives in the public leadership tension in the anxieties along the fault lines contemporary super wicked problems like climate change (Levin et al , 2012), systemic racism (Elias and Feagin, 2020) and COVID-19 (Moon, 2020). In the first, tensions rest in the claims of those vying for public leadership.…”
PurposeThis paper examines the relevance of the wicked problem continuum, particularly the emergence of super wicked challenges for public leadership researchers. Contemporary theorizing on public leadership adequately deals with tame challenges, struggles with wicked problems and remains in the dark with regards to the implications of super wicked problemsDesign/methodology/approachThe wicked problem continuum provides a typology or set of dilemmas running from tame to wicked through to super wicked problems. These different problem types are treated as if they were on a three-zone continuum in which the difficulty of solving or substantially reducing the problem varies from relatively low to very high.FindingsWe delineate the three-problem contexts in the wicked problem continuum and discuss the ideal type of organization thriving in each zone. We then posit two opposing wicked problem interpretations-taming and wilding- for those interested in public leadership. Taming calls for prudent, results-oriented leaders employing tried and tested practices. Wilding demands leaders who test the status quo by seeking alternatives.Social implicationsOn the global leadership agenda, wilding problems—those calling attention to the super wicked zone—are escalating. Despite this, public leaders' training lacks a framework for making sense of these urgent and publicly contentious super wicked problems.Originality/valuePublic policy researchers are beginning to direct attention to super wicked problems such as climate change, and pandemics. This work introduces the wicked problem continuum and demonstrates its pertinence for researchers of public leadership.
“…At the level of the wicked problem continuum as a whole, wilding is motivated by a recognition that the status quo is not only problematic but, if left unchanged, will result in costly, catastrophic consequences. One experiences this tension between the taming pull of the status quo and the call for greater exploration and search for alternatives in the public leadership tension in the anxieties along the fault lines contemporary super wicked problems like climate change (Levin et al , 2012), systemic racism (Elias and Feagin, 2020) and COVID-19 (Moon, 2020). In the first, tensions rest in the claims of those vying for public leadership.…”
PurposeThis paper examines the relevance of the wicked problem continuum, particularly the emergence of super wicked challenges for public leadership researchers. Contemporary theorizing on public leadership adequately deals with tame challenges, struggles with wicked problems and remains in the dark with regards to the implications of super wicked problemsDesign/methodology/approachThe wicked problem continuum provides a typology or set of dilemmas running from tame to wicked through to super wicked problems. These different problem types are treated as if they were on a three-zone continuum in which the difficulty of solving or substantially reducing the problem varies from relatively low to very high.FindingsWe delineate the three-problem contexts in the wicked problem continuum and discuss the ideal type of organization thriving in each zone. We then posit two opposing wicked problem interpretations-taming and wilding- for those interested in public leadership. Taming calls for prudent, results-oriented leaders employing tried and tested practices. Wilding demands leaders who test the status quo by seeking alternatives.Social implicationsOn the global leadership agenda, wilding problems—those calling attention to the super wicked zone—are escalating. Despite this, public leaders' training lacks a framework for making sense of these urgent and publicly contentious super wicked problems.Originality/valuePublic policy researchers are beginning to direct attention to super wicked problems such as climate change, and pandemics. This work introduces the wicked problem continuum and demonstrates its pertinence for researchers of public leadership.
“…Colorblind racial attitudes are one such HE‐LM that bolsters whiteness (Bonilla‐Silva, 2001; Neville et al, 2013). Colorblindness adopters claim they “don't see race” and purport to exist in a race neutral world, conveniently ignoring racial disparities and often minimizing the historic and systemic realities of racism (Elias & Feagin, 2020; Feagin, 2020; Feagin & Elias, 2013). Best (2003) provides an excellent example of the subtle way colorblindness is supported as she describes her interaction with a research participant:“This White woman ultimately refused to engage my questions about race, although she initially seemed ready to respond, because she operated with an entirely different understanding of race and racism than I did.…”
As White activists are growing the racial justice movement, their antiracism frequently disrupts the racial hierarchy, which features whiteness in a dominant role, especially in interpersonal relationships. We investigate how White antiracists disrupt whiteness in interpersonal relationships.We interviewed 16 White antiracists who had experienced significant relationship distance due to their antiracism. We conducted thematic analyses to understand the conflicts that emerged between antiracists and their White counterparts as activists challenged White racial dominance. Antiracists disrupted whiteness by exercising social power to punish racist offenders. In response, their White counterparts resisted these challenges by exerting their instruments of power to sanction antiracists. The conflict with White people led antiracists to build greater personal and social capacity for antiracist activism. This study illustrates how conflicts can emerge during social change efforts even at the microlevel as parties exercise power to contest or support the status quo.
“…Generations of race scholars, theorists, and activists have argued that racial inequities emerge not only because of racist ideologies but also from systemic racism embedded in the structures, institutions, policies, and “everyday practices of a well‐intentioned liberal society” (Baldwin, 1984; Bell, 2004; Bonilla‐Silva, 2001; Elias & Feagin, 2020; Haney Lopez, 1997; Harris, 1993; Powell, 2007; Young, 2011, p. 41). Racially oppressive systems are ubiquitous in the United States and have been documented within countless settings, including economic, educational, judicial, political, media, entertainment, and health sectors (Bell, 2008; Davis et al, 2016; Feagin & Bennefield, 2014).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Racially oppressive systems are ubiquitous in the United States and have been documented within countless settings, including economic, educational, judicial, political, media, entertainment, and health sectors (Bell, 2008; Davis et al, 2016; Feagin & Bennefield, 2014). Systemic racism has gradually become more nuanced over time, replacing de jure policies like school segregation with de facto practices like racial profiling (Elias & Feagin, 2020). It has also become obscured through color‐blind ideologies that uphold the idea of a “post‐racial society” where BIPOC can succeed if they would “just stop thinking about the past, work hard, and complain less” about racial discrimination (Bonilla‐Silva, 2006, p. 1) and White people can disavow responsibility from existing racial inequities.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Feagin et al's systemic racism theory place significant value on the “White racial frame,” a learned ideological paradigm that assigns greater value to White people compared to BIPOC, and justifies the structural advantages given to White people (Feagin, 2010). The White racial frame assists in creating and organizing social structures, material conditions, and everyday practices that lead to racial oppression (Elias & Feagin, 2020). Bonilla‐Silva's (1997) framework focuses on social structures that organize all levels of society and “allocate differential economic, political, social, and even psychological rewards to groups along racial lines” (p. 474).…”
Generations of scholars and activists have argued that racial inequities emerge not only because of racist ideologies but also from a hierarchical system of racial oppression. This theoretical tradition has highlighted numerous ways in which systemic racism manifests itself, from racist policies to differential access to material conditions and power. However, given that by definition systemic racism is focused on systems, theories of systemic racism would be more comprehensive and actionable by drawing on scholarship related to systems thinking. Systems thinking is a conceptual orientation that aims to understand how different types of systems function over time. This paper builds on the work of previous scholars to propose a systems thinking approach to understand and strategically disrupt racist systems. We provide a typology of system characteristics (organized into the categories of paradigms, structures, elements, and feedback loops) that together can be used to help understand the operation of systemic racism in different system contexts. The paper also provides an approach to identify and strategically target multiple system leverage points to simultaneously disrupt the status quo of racial inequity and promote the emergence of conditions enabling racial equity. This systems thinking approach can be used to guide learning and action within an ongoing process of antiracist praxis.
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