Charisma Essay ⋆ Sociology Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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The term ”charisma” is one of the most enduring conceptions in the annals of sociology. Its origin, meaning ”gift,” as derived from the Greek, is close to Max Weber’s understanding of the term which has subsequently passed into common vocabularies.

In a sociological sense, charisma refers to the qualities of those who possess, or are believed to possess, powers of leadership either as a virtue of exceptional personality or derived from some unusual inspiration such as a magical, divine or diabolical source, powers not possessed by the ordinary person (Weber 1947).

Charisma is a source of instability and innovation and therefore constitutes a dynamic element in social change. The concept of a cultural breakthrough was essential to Weber’s understanding of the process of social transformation. At each ”turning point” in a society’s development, he argued, there are two possible directions in which it could advance. If it were to proceed in one direction, the society would undergo profound transformation in the established order, but if it were to take the other, the existing order would be reinforced. The breakthrough juncture in social change is associated with the idea of charisma and prophets representing the prototypes of leaders with such qualities. Charismatic leadership is, in Weber’s account, the source which precipitates it. Thus pure charisma is alien to the established institutions of society and prevailing economic arrangements in particular.

Charismatic authority is considered legitimate because it is based on the magnetic, compelling personal style of leadership. By contrast, bureaucratic authority is considered legitimate because it is founded on abstract rules. Traditional authority is rendered legitimate since it rests on precedence. Charismatic leadership and legal-rational systems of domination stand at opposite poles. Of all these forms of authority, charismatic leadership is the least stable. Such leaders are unpredictable, their lifestyles chaotic, their moods labile, and their commands often unfathomable. Moreover, the authority of charismatic leaders depends entirely on the support of their followers. If the followers lose faith, the leader is left with no power of command. For this reason the charismatic leader’s position is precarious.

For Weber, charismatic leadership tends to become routinized. The first phase of a religious movement passes fairly quickly. Charismatic phenomena are unstable and temporary and can prolong their existence only by becoming routinized — that is, by transformation into institutionalized structures.

Bibliography:

Weber, M. (1947) Theory ofSocial Action, trans. A. M. Henderson & T. Parsons, ed. T. Parsons. Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 358—9.
Weber, M. (1978) Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology, ed. G. Roth & C. Wittich. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.