Ethical Leadership In The Academe In Light Of Levinas' Ethical Maternity

The present study calls for a philosophical analysis of ethical leadership in the academe in light of Levinasian ethical maternity. It investigates the intersections between, and the re-conceptualization of, leadership and maternity. This research begins with a philosophical analysis of Levinas' framework of disinterested responsibility, making it the basis of ethical maternity, which is then woven into the discussion of ethical leadership. The maternal sacrifice suggests a crucial lesson about educational leadership: those whom people place in positions of responsibility in the academe are to approach the task with the single-minded, wholehearted, ultimate self-sacrifice of a mother. Prenatal experience is restless, painful, vulnerable, open to the demands of the other. Academic leaders should wield power in a way that is Levinasian, in a way that is ethical, in a way that is maternal. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.