Chapter 17. Whistleblowing as Responsible Followership

C. Fred Alford

The fate of the whistleblower is not the worst problem our society faces, but it illuminates many others. With the whistleblower, one sees not just the fate of the individual in mass democracy, but the fate of the individual in the organization that is situated in mass democracy. For a long time, people have worried about whether the large organization in which most people live their lives contributes to teaching democratic values. Richard Sennett believes that the values of the contemporary workplace are undermining the values of the rest of our lives.^[] The fate of the whistleblower takes these issues and heightens them, showing that the modern organization not only does little to foster civic values but also is committed to the destruction of the individual who displays them.