R:ETRO webinar: Leadership, resentment/ressentiment and the inversion of values

The third of our Trinity term 2022 R:ETRO webinars – Reputation: Ethics, Trust, and Relationships at Oxford – hosted by Alan Morrison, Professor of Law and Finance, and Rita Mota, Intesa Sanpaolo Research Fellow at the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation at Oxford Saïd (https://oxsbs.link/3cM8Fpp). Joanne B. Ciulla, Professor and Director of the Institute for Ethical Leadership, Rutgers Business School, discusses her work on 'Leadership, resentment/ressentiment and the inversion of values'. Abstract: This seminar examines Scheler's and Nietzsche's notions of ressentiment and how they explain why followers accept leaders who act against their self-interest. It looks at the differences between the two concepts of resentment and ressentiment in the literature and how they relate to justice, self-esteem, social status, nostalgia, grievance, and other emotions. The seminar will also consider the role of social media in cultivating and sustaining ressentiment. It will also explore one of the most harmful aspects of resentment, the social and moral bi-product of it that Nietzsche and Scheler call the "inversion of values." This is when leaders convince followers that what is considered good by the people they resent is bad, and vice versa. Lastly, there will be a discussion of how some contemporary leaders like Donald Trump and others cultivate resentment and invert values. While the seminar does not offer a panacea for resentment, understanding it better may point us towards a cure.