Lone Leaders of Leaderless Resistors: A Theory of Informal Leadership in Contemporary Terrorism and Political Violence

Previous studies found that informal leadership emerges in leaderless resistance movements. However, its boundaries – i.e. the conditions in which leaders can be successful – remain obscure. This paper develops a theoretical framework to then apply it to the Informal Anarchist Federation. The findings suggest that leaders are more likely to succeed when conforming to the movement’s core values. Moreover, informal leadership is context-dependent, temporary, and spontaneous, but also ubiquitous since any militant can be a leader and followers play a crucial role in co-creating the enactment of leadership. The paper argues that understanding the leadership’s boundaries is crucial for counterterrorism purposes.