Charisma and Social Structure

Charisma and Social Structure

Author: Raymond Trevor Bradley

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 1583480021

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The author states in his preface, "Despite charisma’s growing importance, social science has made little progress in unraveling the enigma of charisma beyond that achieved by Max Weber over half a century ago. The results of the research reported in this book offer what I believe is a new and fruitful understanding of charisma." As Karl H. Pribram says in his Foreword,”Bradley comes off as a superb scientist.” Convinced that the common idea that charisma is mainly the leadership quality of an exceptional individual, Bradley believes that charisma occurs because of the nature and dynamics of certain groups. Much of his research is based on the study of communes in the 1970’s. The results of the research reported in this landmark book offer important insights into our understanding of charisma. The relational forms that provide charisma with its power for radical social transformation within a group, a hierarchy of communion and a hierarchy of power, are what account for the stability of charismatic groups. Evidence suggests a similar interrelationship holds for noncharismatic systems. This book is for sociologists and psychologists and also for researchers, political opinion makers, advertisers, managers and anyone interested in the invisible workings of human power, love and communication.


Charisma, History, and Social Structure

Charisma, History, and Social Structure

Author: William H. Swatos Jr.

Publisher: Praeger

Published: 1986-05-20

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13:

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This new collection of essays looks at Max Weber's concept of the charismatic leader and the role and significance of charismatic leadership in relation to structural developments in contemporary society. Following the editors' overview of Weber's typology, the classical commentaries of H..H. Gerth, C. Wright Mills, and Reinhard Bendix are presented. Responding to these, a subsequent essay redefines Weber's position and examines misinterpretations of his original concept. The question of illegitimate authority is considered, both in terms of specific leaders who have abused power and of the manufacture of charisma. Through case studies of the movements of Calvinism, Hasidism, the Unification Church, and modern Iran, the religious face of charismatic leadership is investigated. The falsification of charisma--the creation of superstars by the media--is studied in connection with the cynicism and impersonality that permeate our rational approach to social life and political action. The complex causal connections between charismatic leadership and social structure are analyzed, using studies of successful and unsuccessful charismatic leaders. Questions such as why some leaders fail while others succeed, and whether, or to what degree, social structure sets limits on the impact of charisma are explored. Particular emphasis is given to the structural and cultural processes that lead nations in a democratic or despotic-authoritarian direction.


The Anthem Companion to Talcott Parsons

The Anthem Companion to Talcott Parsons

Author: A. Javier Treviño

Publisher: Anthem Press

Published: 2016-06-19

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 0857281925

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‘The Anthem Companion to Talcott Parsons’ offers the best contemporary work on Talcott Parsons, written by the best scholars currently working in this field. Original, authoritative and wide-ranging, the critical assessments of this volume will make it ideal for Parsons students and scholars alike. ‘Anthem Companions to Sociology’ offer authoritative and comprehensive assessments of major figures in the development of sociology from the last two centuries. Covering the major advancements in sociological thought, these companions offer critical evaluations of key figures in the American and European sociological tradition, and will provide students and scholars with both an in-depth assessment of the makers of sociology and chart their relevance to modern society.


Talcott Parsons

Talcott Parsons

Author: Uta Gerhardt

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2002-10-10

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 9780521810227

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Making Charisma

Making Charisma

Author: Anthony J. Blasi

Publisher: Transaction Publishers

Published:

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 9781412827874

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The authority of charisma entails a "devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism, or exemplary character of an individual person." In the sociology of religion it has long been held that the authority of institutions is legitimated by their identification with charismatic personalities. However, in this book which examines the construction of St. Paul's public image, Anthony J. Blasi argues that charisma "comes as much from us as it is projected by the personages." It is a work of the collective imagination and a fulfillment of a social need. Thus, the charisma of St. Paul is shown to emerge as much or more from the dynamics of early Christianity's institutionalization as from the person of Paul. While acknowledging the importance of certain features of Paul's actual biography, the principle focus of the book is on how Paul became an important personality in Christian tradition in the decades immediately following his death. The ability of the charismatic personality to make acts and creeds religiously legitimate is usually thought of by sociologists as producing normative organizations such as churches, but here it is shown that Paul's charisma was consciously fostered and promoted by the incipient Christian church. The book is divided into segments that examine the social construction of charisma; the role of St. Luke in fashioning Paul's posthumous image; the 'traditions and legends that grew up around Paul after his death (including inauthentic "Pauline" letters written in his name); and the dynamics of constructing the image in the religious and historical context of the time. The author concludes with a reconsideration of what is meant by charisma and how it is created. This is one of the few studies which takes advantage of the methods of literary criticism to explore the social processes at work in early Christianity. "Making Charisma "will be of interest to sociologists of religion and a wide range of scholars interested in the history of religion.


The Charismatic Principle in Social Life

The Charismatic Principle in Social Life

Author: Luigino Bruni

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 0415638224

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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.


Exchange, Action, and Social Structure

Exchange, Action, and Social Structure

Author: Milan Zafirovski

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2001-07-30

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 0313076138

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This unique volume provides a new interpretation and synthesis of network exchange theory in an effort to contribute to a neo-Weberian economic sociology. Arguing against commonly held assumptions about network exchange theory and its interpretation of all social actions as economic exchanges, Zafirovski seeks to explain these processes by employing an interdisciplinary approach and by examining the impact of social and institutional structures on market-economic exchange. The author argues that economic structure, processes, and actions are the outcomes of social action and institutions, not the other way around. This rehabilitation of economic sociology begins with a reconsideration of the character, scope, and development of the field. The author then grounds his sociological approach to economic exchange in social action and structure before examining the role of social motivations in economic exchange. He then examines the political structuration, the cultural constitution, and the social construction of economic exchange and exchange cycles. The book concludes with a discussion of the character and variation of economic exchange in comparative social systems and the relationships of exchange, economic development, and social variables. This unique and persuasive book is an important contribution to the study of economic sociology and sociological theory.


The Classical Roots of Ethnomethodology

The Classical Roots of Ethnomethodology

Author: Richard A. Hilbert

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2017-11-01

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 146963984X

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Hilbert demonstrates the historical connection between the nineteenth-century theory of Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, in which sociology had its origins, and the ethnomethodological approach articulated in the 1960s by Harold Garfinkel. The author rejects the conventional view that draws radical distinctions between the two systems and at the same time provides an intellectual genealogy of ethnomethodology.