Tag Archives: Police

Engaging Power [4]: Diffusion

Posted on August 2, 2018 by julianstodd

How do we fight, how do we conquer? In oppositional models of power, we deploy overwhelming force, to disrupt the structure. The sledgehammer solution. But when the structures of violence are held within coherent social units, the sledgehammer reinforces them. … Continue reading →

Posted in Complexity, Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Engaging Power [3]: Loci

Posted on August 1, 2018 by julianstodd

There is always a locus of engagement, a point where we are anchored. Multiple points maybe, for different contexts of our lives, but some place, or thing, that acts as the tether. If you are at school, the loci may … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Culture | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Engaging Power [2]: Gangs

Posted on July 31, 2018 by julianstodd

What is a gang? A social structure, certainly, with defined membership, and rituals surrounding that. A structure with hierarchy, either formally defined, or discovered through experience, either fixed, or fluid. Territorial: a gang is associated with a subset of geography, … Continue reading →

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Engaging Power [1]: Conflict

Posted on July 30, 2018 by julianstodd

To think that gangs are an aberration, or impermanent structure, is a mistake: they are stable social structures, governed by the same bonding mechanisms as the local church, or regional police force. They are structures of power, partly formalised, partly … Continue reading →

Posted in Community | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

International Women’s Day

Posted on March 8, 2016 by julianstodd

I’m rarely lost for words, but today may be an exception. I am, of course, in favour of equality. And social justice. And fairness. And, for that matter, organic vegetables. My hesitation is not in the importance of this story, … Continue reading →

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Fractured Culture: Exclusion

Posted on June 3, 2014 by julianstodd

I’m prompted to write about exclusion today by a friend who described the bullying she’s been subjected to at work. After a protracted period of negativity, she’s talked about leaving, about taking herself away from such a toxic culture, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Agile, Equality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Evolutions in Leadership

Posted on April 14, 2014 by julianstodd

Evolution is about change over generations: about adaptation to suit the prevailing environment. It’s not a fast process, but it has an inevitability, and we all know what happens to the losers. Look back a hundred years and our view … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, Leadership | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments