ABSTRACT
In this chapter the body is examined historically as a metaphor of political space and governmental authority, in order to throw more theoretical light on the development of contemporary conceptions of citizenship. The analytical intention is to achieve a conceptual blend between a political anthropology of the body and a sociology of the body politic. The theme is provided by Max Weber’s rationalization paradigm: with the modernization of politics, sovereignty is transferred from the sacred body of the king to the abstract body of the state. In the process, sovereign powers are, in principle, secularized, but for various contingent reasons this process of political rationalization is both uneven and incomplete. In particular, the survival of monarchical bodies can be regarded as an important, if anachronistic, institution in the political history of modern states. In both democracies and totalitarian regimes, the body of the leader (whether Ronald Reagan or Saddam Hussein) is the sign of social power. To consider yet another embodiment of power, the Virgin Mary continues in many rural communities to symbolize oppositional force. These forms of the embodiment of power raise questions about the nature and extent of the rationalization of charisma and, although much has been written about Weber’s notion of charismatic routinization, this treatment of political bodies contributes to an original understanding of Weber’s political sociology.
