Curating Spaces of Hope: Power to the People in Post-Pandemic Society

In this paper I will set out a new paradigm for mapping different forms of power available to leaders within faith based organisation, and the potential it offers for organising and ‘building back better’ in post-pandemic society. I will open by using literatures from political philosophy, sociology of religion and social policy to explore the rationale for this new paradigm. I will then introduce the new paradigm, Curating Spaces of Hope (Barber-Rowell, 2021) and the opportunities that it presents for mapping and mobilising leadership in urban contexts. I will use ethnographic data from three sites in northwest England: a town centre church, an estate church and community centre and a faith based social enterprise to set out the paradigm. From this data I will highlight two conceptions of power, namely potential and concrete, and how they are each expressed by leaders in terms of their operant values and practices and what this means for authentic leadership. I will then set out the post-pandemic contexts using UK wide research into the role of faith groups and local authorities in responding to the pandemic (Keeping the Faith, 2020) and the ways in which this new conception of power might be explored further. I will use three case studies from a higher education institution, a third sector infrastructure network and a grassroots political organisation.

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