Charisma and Social Structure

Book excerpt: The author states in his preface, "Despite charisma’s growing importance, social science has made little progress in unraveling the enigma of charisma beyond that achieved by Max Weber over half a century ago. The results of the research reported in this book offer what I believe is a new and fruitful understanding of charisma." As Karl H. Pribram says in his Foreword,”Bradley comes off as a superb scientist.” Convinced that the common idea that charisma is mainly the leadership quality of an exceptional individual, Bradley believes that charisma occurs because of the nature and dynamics of certain groups. Much of his research is based on the study of communes in the 1970’s. The results of the research reported in this landmark book offer important insights into our understanding of charisma. The relational forms that provide charisma with its power for radical social transformation within a group, a hierarchy of communion and a hierarchy of power, are what account for the stability of charismatic groups. Evidence suggests a similar interrelationship holds for noncharismatic systems. This book is for sociologists and psychologists and also for researchers, political opinion makers, advertisers, managers and anyone interested in the invisible workings of human power, love and communication.