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Political sociology's most famous analysis of the grounds on which the exercise of authority might be validly defended was offered by Max Weber. He distinguished three forms of legitimate domination rational, traditional, and charismatic — each resting on quite different credentials. Charismatic authority stemmed from the exceptional qualities of heroism, religiosity, wisdom (or whatever), of specific individuals supremely ‘gifted by grace’. Disdainful of reason and disruptive of tradition, it inspired a sense of mission in those ‘called’ to positions of leadership, and evoked a mixture of faith and awe in their disciples. Weber associated it with the wielding of what were believed to be supernatural powers, and he usually identified it with the spontaneous social groupings generated by warriors, huntsmen, prophets, saints, and sorcerers.

This chapter provides an overview of the study of abuse in new religious movements. Drawing on the literature on patriarchal charismatic movements, the chapter explores the dynamics of physical and sexual abuse that characterized leader-follower relationships across a diverse number of religious groups. Case studies are used to illustrate the types of violence that were reported by devotees. Feminist theories of patriarchal social structure and feminist analyses of violence are used to help explain this troubling aspect of religious commitment. Finally, various strategies for teaching about violence in NRMs are discussed, with an emphasis on the difficulties that these issues raise for classroom teaching.

This introductory chapter outlines the thrust of the book and provides the reader with a theoretical background. The author surveys the historiography of Hindenburg's career and his role in German politics. The most important scholarly texts on the politics of memory and commemoration and the history of political myths and hero worship are discussed. Turning to Weber's concept of charismatic authority, the author contends that its application to Hindenburg's case is limited because projection is defined as key. Hindenburg's followers could not simply mould him into the mythical figure they desired, but constantly had to incorporate the tumultuous events and his conflicting actions into the mythical narrative, making it an enduring, but ever-evolving phenomenon. Furthermore, it is argued that Hindenburg's adulation was no stride on a ‘special German path’, but had parallels elsewhere. However, the Hindenburg myth had grave consequences: it was inextricably linked to the rise of National Socialism.

This concluding chapter highlights common threads between chapters. It argues that Hindenburg's appeal was not limited by class, regional, or religious constraints. Hindenburg-worship differed qualitatively, and various versions of his myth evolved — but these often existed simultaneously. This polyvalence made the Hindenburg myth a more potent phenomenon than one trapped in the tight corset of the right-wing political sphere could ever have been. That his myth survived military failure and political disappointments is seen as cause to question the notion that it was simply moulded in the image of the expectations of German society. It is argued that Germans harboured strong wishes for a permanent national father figure and cherished the sense of order and continuity Hindenburg's mythical presence offered more than the various political — and military — goals associated with his name. Max Weber's model of ‘charismatic authority’ can therefore not be applied to Hindenburg's case in a clear-cut manner.

This chapter examines the ecclesiological foundations of the theological debate between Severus of Antioch and the separatist elements within the anti-Chalcedonian camp over the incorruptibility of the social body of Christ. It reveals the correlation between christology and ecclesiology in the debate over the validity of Chalcedonian baptism, chrismation, and ordination. After considering the divisions within the anti-Chalcedonian movement about the proper attitude to the imperial church, along with their roots and their significance, the chapter argues that Severus was and remained a staunch supporter of imperial ecclesiology, and that he retained his ecumenicism even in the face of popular currents that consistently advocated secession from the imperial church. To show that Severus did not change his ideology, the chapter analyzes his stances on three questions relating to charismatic authority, persecution, and the reception of heretics. It also discusses the arguments of John Rufus and John of Tella and concludes with an assessment of Severus's case against rechrismation.

This chapter explores the notion of “family” that pervades the institutional organization of The Church, with special attention to the role of kinship and spiritual adoption in community formation and interpersonal relationships. Because her visions, call, personality, and charismatic authority are intimately tied to the institutional history of The Church, this chapter opens with a biographical sketch of the pastor-founder. This chapter also explores gender and age as organizing principles; charismatic authority in the life of The Church; and, the role of Biblical authority in legitimizing institutional strategies. Women's leadership in The Church, with special attention to ambiguous beliefs and practices surrounding the female body and the shift from sole female leadership to power-sharing by female and male founding elders is another focus of chapter 5. Finally, this chapter identifies the major families that comprise The Church and their roles in recruiting new members, as well as office distribution patterns within families and how these patterns have changed over time.

Law lets us live with people we do not know. Law is the way a growing group uses a group language to fulfill its members' need to interact with unknown people. Law tells us what people are likely to do and to expect, just because they are in our group. Law evolves rather than being created. The evolution of our group customs accelerates when we evolve customs of following leaders, that is, customs of treating the sayings of particular people as expressions of new customs or...laws. The recorded sayings of our leaders become a consultable guide to life in our community. The reality of leadership depends upon community response to the assertions of assertive individuals—so-called “charismatic authority” is not a personal possession, it is a psychological dynamic among people in a group. Niklas Luhmann's pioneering vision of law as a self-evolving social system insufficiently distinguishes law as the system of communication about the character of life in law's community and insufficiently accounts for the “variety of laws.” H. L. A. Hart's “fundamental objection” to treating law as all about prediction fails to recognize the way in which law contributes to moral reasoning. Keeping the words we call our law predictive is a moral reason to do what law predicts. We should act on that reason unless we have morally weightier reasons to do differently. Legal rules do not exist to substitute for moral reasoning. Legal rules exist to inform us about each other, about what is likely to be done and expected in our community. Rules are vehicles for understanding each other, and therein lies their moral contribution to our own all-things-considered judgments about what to do.

This chapter highlights an incident that represents a major turning point in the life of the cult group Heaven's Gate. Nettles fell ill sometime in the early 1980s, a fact that was kept from most members, and died in 1985, most likely from liver cancer. After her death the changes did not appear to cause any major concerns within the core group or crises of faith among the general membership. The trauma of Nettles' death altered and threatened the group's existence but ultimately was overcome, as Applewhite proved his ability to assert his charismatic authority and reaffirm the transcendent belief system. The followers continued to remain under his control and influence. Therefore, the self-sealing system was preserved and bounded choice prevailed. Finally, in killing themselves, the group believed that they were making a logical and even ecstatic choice, given the history and context of the group to that point. This bounded choice was dictated by the same four principles seen at each stage of the cult's evolution.

In a close analysis of rehearsal processes in the youth choir and two youth orchestras in this study, this chapter describes in detail the gendered interaction between conductor and musicians. The charismatic authoritative leadership of their male conductors was appreciated and enjoyed by the young musicians. The chapter focuses particularly on the interactions that facilitated this charismatic authority. To this end, the construction of conductors’ charisma is analysed in its workings through consensual as well as more coercive practices such as humiliation and fear, and the ways in which these reinforced gendered norms are drawn out. The deference and conformity that are normal within classical music practice can be read politically as trust in the authority and expertise of adult leaders that is continuous with a wider middle-class trust in institutional authority. These social relations are, in part, inscribed in the musical text.

This chapter introduces the core themes and contention of the book. It is broken down into two sections which discuss the book’s content and methodology: the sources consulted in the book, and the early history of the Mongol Empire and its founder, Chinggis Khan. The introductory chapter also situates this book in the existing literature on the topic and highlights the contributions that this study will make to the field. The most important feature of the introductory chapter is the discussion of Chinggis Khan’s life and career. It establishes the charismatic nature of Chinggis Khan’s authority, upon which the rest of the arguments in the book are based.

This chapter details the 2015 collapse of Kids Company, a leading charity for disadvantaged children in London. It examines the role of charisma within symbolic power, applying Max Weber's notion of charismatic authority both to charities as organisations and to charitable leaders. The collapse of Kids Company revealed its over-reliance on its closeness to people at the top of government, symbolic power, and the charismatic authority of its founder, Camila Batmanghelidjh, rather than good governance and strategic planning. Kids Company challenged those who would talk it down, and used its access to prime ministers in order get special treatment. The chapter then explores the notions of passion and professionalism within the charity sector; how these two concepts are often thrown into opposition; how charity leaders reflect on bridging this divide; and what the collapse of Kids Company has meant for their work.

Yiguandao’s Patriarch Zhang Tianran (1889–1947) managed to turn a small sectarian movement into a mass organization with millions of adepts. Although he passed away in 1947, his charisma did not vanish and is still operating today within the group. It is this phenomenon that the current chapter attempts to explore: it first provides some insight into the figure of Zhang Tianran in history before discussing his deification, lasting influence, and charisma. Finally, the chapter shows that the way missionary-adepts relate to their dead Master also provides a model for further dissemination of charismatic authority within the group.

This chapter situates Jewish political theology as a discourse developed in the 20th century, mainly by German Jewish thinkers. It sets out the basic differences between this analysis and the discourse on political theology developed by Carl Schmitt, centered on the need for absolute sovereignty to “restrain” disorder and revolutionary upheavals. The chapter argues that Jewish political theology offers an alternative conception of divine sovereignty and its implications for democracy and revolution. Jewish political theology is both republican and anarchic, attached to the idea of a higher law above human sovereignty and to the egalitarian ideal of a politics beyond domination. This chapter presents the two analytical-conceptual guiding-threads of the investigation. The first is concerned with Max Weber’s category of charismatic leadership and the problem of its functioning within a constitutional idea of democratic legitimacy. The second guiding-thread is concerned with the process of secularization. This chapter argues that Jewish political theology reconceives divine providence in order to criticize the assumption of human progress in and through history.

The Order of the Solar Temple caught the attention of the public in October 1994, when fifty-three of its members in Switzerland and Quebec were murdered or committed suicide. When these tragic events were followed by two group suicides, the Solar Temple quickly became one of the most notorious and discussed “cults.” This chapter surveys the most important scholarly theories on the violence of the Solar Temple. It also addresses the broader discussion of sects and violence and uses the Solar Temple as a case study.

This chapter singles out the work of several immigrant women activists in the realms of politics, society, and culture. Through thick descriptions of their activities to bring about structural change, the chapter reveals more about the resistant side of agency and the work of individuals who resist and attempt to transform prevailing social structures. Significantly, those efforts are not single, isolated efforts. The women in this chapter are figures of “charismatic authority,” as the sociologist Max Weber labeled the phenomenon of exceptional heroic individuals—the visionaries who inspire populations to look toward a radically revised future. This chapter also provides a depiction, in these women's own words, of the broader challenges that women and immigrants face, as well as proposed solutions.

As communist and nationalist militants made direct contact with rural society they faced the difficulty of potential confrontation with the conservative nature of peasant ‘marabout’ culture, including rituals surrounding holy shrines, magic, and pilgrimages. The Native Affairs department made instrumental use of such traditional practices as a way of reinforcing popular support for the caids, the charismatic and patrimonial authority of chiefs like the bachaga Boualam in the Ouarsenis. However, such manipulation by the colonial state was contested in a number of ways. The annual cycle of pilgrimages, often involving thousands of peasants, was also used as an occasion by communist and nationalist leaders to address the crowds, as seen during a communist intervention during the pilgrimage to Miliana in May 1950 and 1951. Some pilgrimages, like that to the shrine of Sidi Maamar, were harnessed by anti-colonial peasant movements led by the djemâas. The reformist Ulema movement of Ben Badis, usually interpreted by historians as an urban-based movement, penetrated into the peasant communities of the Chelif region and students trained in the medersas and the great Islamic centres of Constantine, Tunisia, and Morocco returned to inject nationalism through Koranic schools that became a later support base of the FLN.