Tyrannies of Distributed Leadership in Co-Production: Power, Process, Paralysis, Permission and Politeness

Co-production in governance, and distributed leadership, share a symbiotic association and normative appeal. This paper offers a contribution to theory and practice by presenting a challenge to the accounts that currently dominate which neglect key aspects of the challenges of leadership in coproduction. The term ‘tyranny’ has been used to highlight particular orthodoxies around citizen participation which limit the space, scale and scope for more profound critical perspectives. Utilising a critical case study of co-production, the development of a unique Action Research Collective (ARC), the paper identifies five tyrannies of distributed leadership in co-production: power, process, paralysis, permission and politeness. Acknowledging that whilst leadership may be distributed, power often is not, the paper offers an often absent critical and political perspective on both co-production and distributed leadership.