Leading from the ground in a state-built settlement: community leadership, gender and generational renewal in a Malaysian FELDA scheme

Purpose This paper examines how community leadership is exercised, legitimised and renewed in FELDA Selasih, a Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) settler scheme in Peninsular Malaysia. It asks three questions: (1) How do grassroots leaders in a state-built settlement construct legitimacy in the absence of strong formal authority? (2) How do women leaders negotiate gendered expectations of public leadership? and (3) How do leaders respond to the disengagement of second-generation settlers from community institutions? Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a qualitative single-case design based on two group interviews conducted in January 2025 with the leadership of three community organisations: Gerakan Persatuan Wanita (GPW, the women’s movement), Jawatankuasa Kemajuan dan Keselamatan Rancangan (JKKR, the scheme development and safety committee) and Majlis Belia FELDA Malaysia (MBFM, the FELDA youth council). Transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings Four themes are developed: (1) legitimacy work: leadership authority is earned relationally through trust-building rather than conferred by office; (2) gendered leadership: women leaders face a double bind of authority and acceptability that they manage through patience, courage and socially-embedded assertiveness; (3) generational renewal: leaders re-engage youth through selective incentives and economic opportunity rather than appeals to obligation; and (4) a thin resource ecology that is compensated through inter-organisational collaboration and mutual-aid institutions. Across these themes, the analysis identifies a permanent mobilisation problem: community leadership must repeatedly secure attention, participation and resources for collective and adaptive work. Originality/value The paper extends public leadership scholarship beyond public office into the under-researched setting of state-sponsored land-settlement communities. It offers one of the first leadership-focused accounts of FELDA’s community organisations.