The works of F. G. Bailey (1924-2020) provide a seminal template for good ethnography. Central to this is Bailey's ability to conceptually connect the well-described micro-contexts of individual interactions to the macro-context of culture. Bailey's core concerns - the tension between individual and collective interests, the will to power, and the dialectics of social forces which foster both collective solidarity as well as divisiveness and discontent - are themes of universal interest; the beauty of his work lies in his analyses of how these play out in local arenas between real people. His models provide nuanced, yet explicit road maps to analysing the different leadership styles of everyday people and contemporary leaders. This volume seeks to inspire new generations of anthropologists to revisit Bailey's seminal texts, to help them navigate their way through the ethnographic thicket of their own research.

Preface - Edward SimpsonIntroduction, or: 'Yes that's it!' - Victor de Munck and Elisa J SoboPart I: Contributions to the discipline1 F. G. Bailey's political anthropology and its malcontents - Felix Girke2 Morality, truth and power in F. G. Bailey's ethnography of politics - Gitika De3 Politics as theatrical performance and backstage pragmatism: work and legacy of F. G. Bailey - Stanley R. BarrettPart II: Professional mentoring4 Leadership influence: an aperture on 'character' - Christopher Griffin5 A personal memory of F. G. Bailey - Gavin Smith6 Mancunian realism and Melanesian anthropology - David LipsetPart III: Individuals in situations7 Negotiating the gap between the 'ought' and the 'is': older Americans' strategies - Yohko Tsuji8 Conundrums of caste, history, and truth: Hindu Nadar identities in urban South India - Sara Dickey9 The moral guises of injustice: from Bisipara to Aotearoa - Erica PrussingPart IV: Rules and roles of conflict10 The social construction of the Washington Consensus on international trade policy - Robert H. Wade11 'Rules are Weapons': Can F. G. Bailey's toolbox aid our understanding of irrigation bureaucracies? - Namika Raby12 Politics and administration in the narrow neck of the hourglass: an account of normative and pragmatic rules in Norwegian local politics - Christian Lo13 'Tertius Gaudens aut Tertium Numen? Third-party Roles in Conflict and Conflict Resolution' - Kevin AvruchPart V: Social change14 Tribe and nation in the Balkans: Bailey's Concepts of agency, expediency, morality and change in the former Yugoslavia - Mary Kay Gilliland15 Old boys or a new middle class?: Defining leadership through bridge-actions in a Fijian Pentecostal church - Karen J. Brison16 'The Need for Enemies': modernity and malevolence in Tribal India - Andrew Willford