Charisma

Abstract This chapter gives a critical review of foundational arguments in sociology by Max Weber, Shmuel Eisenstadt, Edward Shils, and Michel Foucault, and in anthropology by Clifford Geertz. This establishes the theoretical basis for a comparative analysis of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian cases. It examines charisma in religious movements and ritual practices, cult figures, and processes of ethical renewal and self-fashioning. Charismatic leadership is shown to be highly personalized, intense, expressive, and irrational as well as being innovative and creative. The bi-polarity of charisma is shown to be key to the study of Muslim and Jewish charismatic saints, alternative sacred centers, sacred exchange, and “anti-structure” in anthropology. The analysis for postcolonial states clarifies how charismatic dissent challenges the bureaucratic domination of the state. The importance of Foucault’s contribution to the study of dispersed charisma and self-mastery is substantiated by the increase in attributions of charisma in new religious movements.