Leaderless Resistance - Essay Example

Leaderless resistance The concept of leaderless resistance does not fit into my thinking and definition of resistance based on a certain factors. According to this concept, fighting an entrenched power requires acting individually without a central coordination. On the contrary, my understanding of resistance requires collective force and proper coordination in order to fight a common enemy. This is particularly important considering that the resisting group faces a superior power with better resources and machinery.

In my view, without any form of organization, the rebel group is likely to be weakened and contained by the authorities. The concept of leaderless resistance is also based on the idea that the participants must individually acquire the skills and information required. Based on my understanding of resistance, I find this impossible. It is challenging for a large group of individuals each operating independently to have the same knowledge and information on a given issue. Whereas such persons might have a common goal and the same philosophy, the rate at which each acquires information and the quality of such information may differ, and this might compromise the operations of the group.

As a result, it might be difficult for the members of such groups to react to situations in the same way. Finally, in my understanding of resistance, the need to have interpersonal contact allows the group to grow since new members can be recruited, and in some cases, incentives provided. However, with the concept of leaderless resistance, such contact does not take place. This is likely to make it difficult for the group to grow its numbers and enhance its presence in a given region. It is likely that at some point, the group will die due to lack of members.

ReferenceBeam. L.R (1992). Leaderless Resistance. Pp. 1-11. Archive of The Palmetto Heritage Foundation.