Gender and charismatic power

Abstract

Working beyond the inclination to inaugurate alternative theoretical traditions alongside canonical sociology, this article demonstrates the value of recovering latent gender theory from within classic concepts-in this case, Weber's "charisma." Close readings of Weber reveal, (a) tools for theorizing extraordinary, non-masculinist agency, and, (b) clues that account for the conventional wisdom (popular and scholastic) that charisma is "not for women." While contemporary movements may be tempted to eschew charismatic leadership per se because of legacies of dominance by men, there is value in Weber's formulation, which anticipated the performative turn in social theory that would destabilize biologistic gender ontologies. Value in this exchange also flows back to Weber: by confronting his intermittent tendency to describe charisma in terms that we now recognize as "customs of manly power," we reveal heretofore unseen imperfections (i.e., traditionalist modes of legitimation) in his ideal-type. This engagement thus demonstrates an empowering mutuality between contemporary gender theory and "the classics." The article ends by theorising the nexus of gender and charisma in the case of Trump, pointing to possibilities for vitiating Donald Trump's charisma, as well as for anti-Trumpian charisma. Charisma . Donald Trump . Gender . Politics . Populism . Weber Myra Marx Ferree and Carol Mueller (2004) advocated for a push beyond shopworn debates about what the women's movement is, outlining instead what it is not-in their words, "not new, not only Western, and not always feminist" (2004, p. 576). Such an expansive perspective is refreshing and welcome. After all, there are few historical Theory and Society Keywords

Berserk!: Anger and the Charismatic Populism of Donald Trump

“…Weber, 1978: 406, 241, 1111) bears the imprint of this macrohistorical premise, as does his relegation of all discussions of the ‘runner amuck’ to Ancient Judaism . The danger of associating charisma’s ‘attack mode’ so exclusively with loin-clothed primitives, of course, is that such depictions sustain a paradigm wherein biologistic and/or masculinist expressions of charismatic anger are the only type that could be conceived as having political import (Joosse and Willey, 2020: 36–40). Clearly, less ramboid forms of charismatic anger can be effective in the political realm and are deserving of attention.…”

“…The goal of this paper is exactly that: we pull on threads from past research on charismatic emotions (Wasielewski, 1985; Young, 2017) and charismatic rupture (Joosse and Willey, 2020; Wagner-Pacifici, 2020; Wagner-Pacifici and Tavory, 2019). However, we take these strands one step further by focusing on anger, which we see as an emotion that entails a sense of profound dissatisfaction, an injury to one’s social worth and identity, and a longing for revenge.…”

“… 2. It is difficult to avoid gendered language when discussing Weber’s berserks, which are all men of rather hegemonically masculine persuasion. For a discussion of this problem, see Joosse and Willey (2020). …”

Sacralization Religion, Power Elite And Leadership: Female Regents In East Java

“…The relationship of elite and power and dynamic of cleric and power is interesting discussion because the emergence of political policy as the determination of those relation, so that not only social cultural aspect influences but also political policy becoming main factor (Joosse & Willey, 2020). Therefore, in conducting analysis to religion leader in goverment power, the finding of Muslim's research explained there is marginalization process of elite power because strong dominance of political elite power in the other group (Muslim et al, 2015).…”

Audience Agency in Social Performance

“…Arcs of fusion suggest it is possible, and that a revised definition of charisma could be considered. The process of charismatic attribution by audiences depends on how the extraordinary and seemingly-divine is defined in a particular society; as mentioned earlier, the boundaries of what is acceptably considered sacred and extraordinary are drawn by those in power (Asad, 1993; Joosse and Willey, 2020). This doesn’t mean that charisma does not exist in these cases.…”