The Charismatic Community examines the rise and development of Shiite religious identity in early Islamic history, analyzing the complex historical and intellectual processes that shaped the sense of individual and communal religious vocation. The book reveals the profound and continually evolving connection between the spiritual ideals of the Shiite movement and the practical processes of community formation. Author Maria Massi Dakake traces the Quranic origins and early religious connotations of the concept of walayah and the role it played in shaping the sense of communal solidarity among followers of the first Shiite Imam, Ali b. Abi Talib. Dakake argues that walayah pertains not only to the charisma of the Shiite leadership and devotion to them, but also to solidarity and loyalty among the members of the community itself. She also looks at the ways in which doctrinal developments reflected and served the practical needs of the Shiite community, the establishment of identifiable boundaries and minimum requirements of communal membership, the meaning of women's affiliation and identification with the Shiite movement, and Shiite efforts to engender a more normative and less confrontational attitude toward the non-Shiite Muslim community.
The twelve years of the Third Reich casts a dark shadow over history. Fierce debates still rage over many of the hows, whys and wherefores of this perplexing period. Leading expert on German history, Martin Kitchen, provides a concise, accessible and provocative account of Nazi Germany. It takes into account the political, social, economic and cultural ramifications, and sets it within the context of the times, while pointing out those areas that still defy our understanding. This lively account addresses major issues such as the reasons for Hitler’s extraordinary popularity, his hold over the German people even when all seemed lost, the role of ideology, the cooption of the elites, and the descent into war for race and space, culminating in the horrors of the holocaust.
This book demonstrates how the modern relationship between leaders and followers in America grew out of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century charismatic social movements.
Rajneeshpuram, a controversial religious community, transplanted from India to Oregon in 1981, attracted international attention when several of its leaders were arrested in 1985. The spiritual leader, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, was deported from the United States and others subsequently served prison terms for arson, poisonings, attempted murder, and other crimes. Rajneesh's followers, called 'sannyasin', are distinguished from other religious groups by their denial of the legitimacy of any moral code for regulating conduct, their rejection of personal constraint by existing human institutions, and the absence of any stable shared system of beliefs. This book is a narrative account of the progressive regimentation of the commune and the escalating hostilities between it and the surrounding communities that led to eventual dismantlement. This is a comprehensive treatment of the Oregon Rajneesh incident from a sociological perspective, this study offers insights into the importance of shared values for regulating group processes and for negotiating relationships with other groups.
Much of the writing on charisma focuses on specific traits associated with exceptional leaders, a practice that has broadened the concept of charisma to such an extent that it loses its distinctiveness – and therefore its utility. More particularly, the concept's relevance to the study of social movements has not moved beyond generalizations. The contributors to this volume renew the debate on charismatic leadership from a historical perspective and seek to illuminate the concept's relevance to the study of social movements. The case studies here include such leaders as Mahatma Gandhi; the architect of apartheid, Daniel F. Malan; the heroine of the Spanish Civil War, Dolores Ibarruri (la pasionaria); and Mao Zedong. These charismatic leaders were not just professional politicians or administrators, but sustained a strong symbiotic relationship with their followers, one that stimulated devotion to the leader and created a real group identity.
Max Weber laid the foundations for the meaning of ‘charisma’ in modern secular usage. This new volume argues for the importance of the ‘charismatic principle’ in history, economics and society. This volume brings together a number of contributors at the cross section between economics, theology, sociology and politics in order to set a research agenda for the following issues: What does it means to have a ‘charism’? How does it work in society? How might one distinguish a ‘charism’ from a talent? Are ‘charism’s given only to "special" people, or are they also present in ordinary people? Is a ‘charism’ necessarily associated with religion, or, is it, as we submit, possible to imagine ‘charisms’ at work within a secular perspective? Which are the principle perspectives of the role of ‘charisms’ in social history? How have the ‘charisms’ of noted personalities (e.g., Benedict, Francis, Gandhi) changed economic and social history? What insights might be drawn from ‘civil charisms’ such as the cooperative movement, non-profit organizations, social economy, and values-based organizations? This book seeks to answer these questions through the employment of an interdisciplinary perspective, which examines the theme of the charismatic principle in social life in different fields of application.
What If You Could Change Your Life Forever In The Next 5 Days? "This book will change your life""Should be required reading""A thoughtful masterpiece"Have you ever met a really charismatic person? I mean someone that has really mastered the rules of Charisma?They just seem to have so much energy and life in them. They have a magnetic light in their eyes that exudes warmth and friendliness. They have incredible social skills, and are champions when it comes to small talk. They are instantly likable and can effortlessly build rapport with anyone.The are surrounded by people that love and admire them and build phenomenal relationships with almost everyone they meet.They seem to have the ability to achieve any goal they set themselves, and they usually do. They love what they do for a living, and get paid well for it.They live in the homes that other people want to live in, drive the cars that other people want to drive, and go on the holidays that other people want to go on. What If This Could Be YOU? Charisma is a simple skill that can be taught and THE CHARISMA RULES will take you be the hand and teach you how to become one of the most successful and charismatic people that has ever walked this planet! All you need to do is first learn and then master the RULES... Here's What You're Going To Learn In This Book You'll get real life charisma exercises at the end of each chapter you can start using today. You'll learn how to skyrocket your charisma within 5 minutes of starting this book. You'll learn how to negotiate with greater influence and be more persuasive. You'll learn how to be the most dynamic and interesting person in the room. You'll learn how to create fun, interesting conversations and master your communication skills. You'll learn how to captivate and inspire the people around you. You'll also learn advanced skills such as ... How to exude a magnetic warmth that makes people gravitate towards you. How to talk to anyone so that you can easily interact with any man or woman. How to develop your people skills and ask empowering questions. How to shine the spotlight on others and make them feel incredible when they are around you. How to build a charismatic image that portrays both warmth and power. Hundreds of other tips and tricks to get you started in the next 5 minutes... What If 5 Days From Today, Your Entire Life Could Be Different? The concept of this book is very simple. You'll read a chapter, you'll do the exercises and you'll master the rule. You'll then move on to the next chapter and the next rule. Once you have learnt and mastered THE CHARISMA RULES your life will never be the same again. Want to be more dynamic? Want to be magnetic and light up the room? I promise you can be. Join The 1,000's Of Other Readers Who Have Taken Action And Changed Their Lives, And Click The BUY BUTTON NOW! Tags: charisma, how to be charismatic, communication skills, conversation skills, how to talk to anyone, people skills, social skills, influence, persuasion, persuasive, how to be more charismatic, boost charisma, charisma myth, the charisma rules, the rules of charisma, how can I be more charismatic, be more confident, how to be more confident, how to deal with people, how to interact with people, how to win friends, improve communication skills, how to influence people, how to be dynamic
What if charisma could be taught? The charisma myth is the idea that charisma is a fundamental, inborn quality—you either have it (Bill Clinton, Steve Jobs, Oprah) or you don’t. But that’s simply not true, as Olivia Fox Cabane reveals. Charismatic behaviors can be learned and perfected by anyone. Drawing on techniques she originally developed for Harvard and MIT, Cabane breaks charisma down into its components. Becoming more charismatic doesn’t mean transforming your fundamental personality. It’s about adopting a series of specific practices that fit in with the personality you already have. The Charisma Myth shows you how to become more influential, more persuasive, and more inspiring.
A fascinating examination of technological utopianism and its complicated consequences. In The Charisma Machine, Morgan Ames chronicles the life and legacy of the One Laptop per Child project and explains why—despite its failures—the same utopian visions that inspired OLPC still motivate other projects trying to use technology to “disrupt” education and development. Announced in 2005 by MIT Media Lab cofounder Nicholas Negroponte, One Laptop per Child promised to transform the lives of children across the Global South with a small, sturdy, and cheap laptop computer, powered by a hand crank. In reality, the project fell short in many ways—starting with the hand crank, which never materialized. Yet the project remained charismatic to many who were captivated by its claims of access to educational opportunities previously out of reach. Behind its promises, OLPC, like many technology projects that make similarly grand claims, had a fundamentally flawed vision of who the computer was made for and what role technology should play in learning. Drawing on fifty years of history and a seven-month study of a model OLPC project in Paraguay, Ames reveals that the laptops were not only frustrating to use, easy to break, and hard to repair, they were designed for “technically precocious boys”—idealized younger versions of the developers themselves—rather than the children who were actually using them. The Charisma Machine offers a cautionary tale about the allure of technology hype and the problems that result when utopian dreams drive technology development.
Studies of religion have a tendency to conceptualise 'the Spirit' and 'the Letter' as mutually exclusive and intrinsically antagonistic. However, the history of religions abounds in cases where charismatic leaders deliberately refer to and make use of writings. This book challenges prevailing scholarly notions of the relationship between 'charisma' and 'institution' by analysing reading and writing practices in contemporary Christianity. Taking up the continuing anthropological interest in Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity, and representing the first book-length treatment of literacy practices among African Christians, this volume explores how church leaders in Zambia refer to the Bible and other religious literature, and how they organise a church bureaucracy in the Pentecostal-charismatic mode. Thus, by examining social processes and conflicts that revolve around the conjunction of Pentecostal-charismatic and literacy practices in Africa, Spirits and Letters reconsiders influential conceptual dichotomies in the social sciences and the humanities and is therefore of interest not only to anthropologists but also to scholars working in the fields of African studies, religious studies, and the sociology of religion.
