Leadership under Constraint: A Comparative Analysis of How Oppression, Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism Shape Leadership Behaviour across Post-Slavery, Postcolonial, and Privileged Societies
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Leadership is neither context-neutral nor historically detached; it is profoundly shaped by the structural conditions within which it emerges. This study presents a comprehensive and critical comparative analysis of how oppression, prejudice, discrimination, and racism influence leadership style and behaviour, contrasted with leadership enacted in contexts relatively void of such systemic constraints. Drawing on structural power theory, critical race theory, social dominance theory, and ethical leadership theory, the paper interrogates how historical legacies of slavery, colonialism, racial hierarchy, and institutionalised exclusion shape leadership agency, legitimacy, and ethical orientation. Using illustrative case analyses from post-slavery America, selected African nations, Jamaica, Britain, and post-war Germany, the study demonstrates that leadership in oppressive contexts is frequently characterised by constrained autonomy, defensive governance, centralisation of authority, and survival-oriented decision-making. In contrast, leadership in contexts with stronger institutional legitimacy and lower levels of systemic oppression tends to exhibit participatory engagement, ethical expansiveness, and deliberative governance. The findings challenge universalist assumptions in leadership theory by demonstrating that leadership behaviours often interpreted as authoritarian or ineffective are frequently adaptive responses to structural injustice rather than individual deficiencies. The study further argues that ethical leadership cannot be meaningfully evaluated without accounting for historical and structural inequalities that shape leader-follower relationships and institutional expectations. By foregrounding context, power, and history, this paper contributes to leadership scholarship, postcolonial studies, and social justice discourse, offering a more nuanced framework for assessing leadership effectiveness and moral responsibility across unequal societies.
Institution: Northern Caribbean University
Language: English
Subfield: Strategy and Management
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7218002854