The Theory of Charisma
1969; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 10; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1111/j.1533-8525.1969.tb01294.x
ISSN1533-8525
Autores Tópico(s)Religion and Society Interactions
ResumoSINCE ITS first systematic treatment by Max Weber in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft in the early twenties, the concept of charisma** has been of only limited use to the social sciences. This is so because of fundamental disagreement concerning its meaning and application. In response to this, the present paper offers (1) a brief examination of Weber's contribution, (2) a critical analysis of this position based in part on the recent literature, and (3) a final formulation of the concept. For Weber, charismatic authority exists when an individual's claim to supernatural, superhuman or... exceptional (Weber, 1947: 358) is acknowledged by others as a valid basis for their participation in a program of action which seeks to remedy ... distress or [guarantee] the success of extraordinary ventures (Gerth and Mills, 1946:251). Hence the leader's authority and program are specifically outside the realm of everyday routine and ... [therefore] sharply opposed both to rational . . and to traditional authority. . ... Both ... are ... forms of everyday routine control . . . while charismatic authority repudiates the past, and is ... a specifically revolutionary force (Weber, 1947:361-362). In this sense every [charismatic] leader . . . preaches, creates, or demands new obligations while at the same time repudiating any sort of [systematic] involvement in the everyday routine world (Weber, 1947:361-362). This repudiation is of necessity ephemeral, and the pure form [of] charismatic authority ... [exists] only in the process of originating (Weber, 1947:364). In time, primarily because of the inherent instability of charismatic authority (Gerth and Mills, 1946:248), the movement is brought back into the normal routine of the community (Weber, 1947:363-386) and is the fate of charisma, whenever it comes into the permanent institutions of a community, to give way to powers of tradition or of rational socialization (Gerth and Mills, 1946:253).
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