ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by outlining Weber’s theory of charisma, which underlay Geertz’s portrait of symbolic authority and Tambiah’s processual model. Willner operationalized Weber’s framework to explore cultural precepts animating modern political charismatics. Freud’s psychoanalytic paradigm inspired La Barre’s and Wallace’s claims that crisis cults give birth to charismatic movements. Later writers (e.g., Lindholm and Horvath) synthesized various theories propounded by Durkheim, Van Gennep, Le Bon, Tarde, Radin, Bateson, and especially Turner to explain charismatic movements. The chapter concludes by calling for cross-cultural interdisciplinary research on contemporary manifestations of charisma in daily life.
