The Just Transitions and Interdisciplinary Peace (JTIP) research group welcomes you to their first seminar in their JTIP seminar series. Dr Gloriana Rodriguez Alvarez will present her latest article titled Defying the Leviathan: Community-based and Intersectional Approaches to Decolonial Leadership in Guatemala.

About the event

This paper examines decolonial leadership in Guatemala, focusing on how Indigenousand marginalised communities resist colonial and authoritarian structures throughcommunity-based and intersectional approaches. Resistance to systemic injustices is notmerely a reaction but an intrinsic part of Guatemala’s historical and social fabric.

Based on interviews with Indigenous leaders, feminists, LGBTQ advocates, and legalexperts from 2019 to 2023, the study contests Western-centric leadership paradigms. Findings reveal that resistance movements adhere to a collective leadership rooted incommunity and intersectionality, integrating Indigenous knowledge systems andcommunitarian feminism. The community-based approach critiques individualism,hierarchical structures, and anthropocentrism. Thus, decolonial leadership underscoresthe interconnectedness of humanity and nature, reframing leadership as an inclusive,contextually grounded practice. Moreover, the intersectional approach highlights therole of diverse identities, specifically examining race/ethnicity, gender, and classdimensions.

This study seeks to present a counter-narrative that values local knowledgeand cultural specificity, providing a nuanced perspective on leadership as a means todismantle colonial hierarchies and address systemic injustices. As such, the paper seeksto contribute to a leadership discourse that reflects a plurality of voices, perspectives,and contexts, thereby broadening the field with a more representative understanding ofleadership practices

About the speaker

Dr Gloriana Rodriguez Alvarez

Dr Gloriana Rodriguez Alvarez is a Lecturer in Leadership, Development, Peace and Security Education and a Lecturer in Cultural Competency & Leadership Education. Her academic background includes LLB in law, a master’s in human rights, a master’s in humanities, a PhD in Latin American Studies from the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica and a PhD in Leadership with reference to Security and Development at King’s.

Gloriana's research examines the nexus between followership, security and coloniality using interdisciplinary research, such as socio-legal analysis and empirical research in prisons. She has also carried out policy-oriented research and human rights advocacy. Gloriana worked as a congressional aide for the President of the Commission of Narco-trafficking and Security in Costa Rica (2010-2014). At the Central American Governance Institute (ICG), she was the Project Manager for a programme implemented in collaboration with the European Union to promote citizen security throughout Central America.