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Many authors argue that candidates are more popular among voters from their own region. Two potential explanations have been suggested: voters' identification with their home region, and the representation of regional interests. The information on candidates' residence can be transmitted to voters in different ways, the most easily accessible way being information printed on the ballot paper. However, most studies on "friends and neighbour voting" use aggregate data. Studies that rely on individual level data usually put respondents in hypothetical situations and confront them with synthetic candidates, reducing their realism. To bridge this gap and to test the effect of providing information on the candidates' residence, we use data from a survey experiment to analyze voters' responses to ballot paper information on the regional background of real candidates in the 2014 European election in Germany. We find that voters in an open list PR election are more likely to support regional candidates if ballot paper information on the candidates' geographic background helps them to do so. The appeal of personal ties is a stronger explanation for vote preference than the one based on regional interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps: Defining Iran's Military Doctrine" by Alma Keshavarz provides a detailed analysis of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its role in Iran's hybrid warfare strategy. The book explores the historical development of the IRGC, its relationship with the Iranian government, and its influence on domestic and foreign policies. Keshavarz argues that the IRGC has become the sole proprietor of Iran's foreign policy priorities and is deeply embedded in the Iranian economy. The book also discusses the Quds Force, the IRGC's special operations unit, and its relationship with the Supreme Leader. Keshavarz concludes by offering policy recommendations for dealing with the IRGC's hybrid warfare strategies, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive and long-term approach. Overall, the book provides valuable insights for policymakers and academics studying Middle Eastern security issues. [Extracted from the article]

In recent years, the Chinese government has initiated assertive centralization efforts in its approach to environmental governance. However, the efficacy of these initiatives demonstrates marked variability across different sectors. While the central-local relational framework has traditionally been employed to elucidate these disparities, its explanatory power is showing signs of strain. This paper, through policy analysis and field interviews, investigates regulatory conflicts in land use for ecological and agricultural purposes within China. The findings highlight instances of overlapping jurisdictions and discordant policy objectives among agencies responsible for delineating ecological spaces and agricultural zones. While these conflicts seem to stem from the dynamics between the central and local governments, they more accurately reflect the inherent characteristics of fragmented authoritarianism. This paper aims to expand the theory of fragmented authoritarianism by incorporating the dimension of inter-departmental competition into environmental governance, moving beyond the traditional binary analysis framework of central-local relations. It seeks to understand and critique its limitations from a broader perspective, emphasizing the role of departmental competition within fragmented authoritarianism. By analyzing this internal mechanism, the paper reveals a more nuanced governance landscape, essentially replacing the traditional central-local paradigm with a model that situates departmental competition within the overall context of fragmented authoritarianism. We propose two models for delineating competition among governmental institutions: the bureaucratic model and the charisma model, thereby advancing and deepening the application of fragmented authoritarianism theory in China's environmental governance. This provides new theoretical insights for understanding the current challenges and developments in China's environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countless articles and books have been written about transformational leadership theory since the late 1970s when it first appeared in the literature. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to illustrate that transformational leadership contains both logical and psychological problems when explaining the nature of leadership and as an empirically supportable and verifiable construct. It aims to show that its failure to garner evidence from a scientific methodological analysis may not invalidate its efficacy if it is viewed from an alternative lens, such as aesthetics. An aesthetic frame is one that recognizes sensuous ways of knowing since feelings and emotions are just as important as reason and logic. An aesthetic approach to leadership would see leadership as more of an art than a science. This paper is not arguing for the abandonment of transformational leadership theory; rather it is saying that an aesthetic lens is likely to yield a richer, more artistic, and more nuanced account of what is understood and enacted as transformational leadership. This way, the manifestations of transformational leadership may live on in the arts and continue to inspire and motivate us. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Campaigns for personal health expenses make up the largest and fastest-growing segment of donation-based crowdfunding. Set against the backdrop of retrenchment and disinvestment in public healthcare systems across the global North, health-related crowdfunding is a way to navigate increasingly marketised systems of social reproduction. Despite high profile success stories, campaigns vary significantly in their ability to capture the hearts, and ultimately wallets, of donors. While existing analyses of online campaign pages offer some insight into the marketing of healthcare needs, far less is known about practices and experiences of crowdfunding platform users, including campaigners. Bringing literature on crowdfunding together with accounts of the marketisation of care, our paper asks: how do campaigners work to secure crowdfunded healthcare? Through the accounts of 15 people campaigning on behalf of family or friends in Aotearoa New Zealand, we show how attempts to appeal to donors depend on campaigners' abilities to 'market' illness and need in ways that resonate with the crowd. We have two main foci. First, we examine the responsibility and responsibilisation of campaigners to engage and perform accountability to crowdfunders. Second, we show how campaigners mobilise recipients' traits of deservingness and other culturally favoured personal qualities to appeal to the crowd's perceived predilections. In sum, the paper demonstrates how the use of crowdfunding is both necessitated by the marketisation of healthcare while simultaneously exerting its own form of market discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine whether charismatic leadership strategies can be successfully implemented within structures, systems and tasks for social workers to increase case management successes, particularly client well-being, given that the six key charismatic leadership traits align with presented professionally bound ethical expectations. Design/methodology/approach: A short generic qualitative review was done over fifteen publications, emphasizing the effects of charismatic leadership in domestic and foreign occupational domains. Findings: Methodological, thematic and theoretical analyses show that charismatic leadership strategies are active in relevant social work domains with positive participant impacts. Practical implications: The paper is intended to primarily investigate whether charismatic leadership is present in social work domains, and does not consider other leadership modalities. Originality/value: High-quality reviews from the presented methodological investigations suggest that charismatic leadership is an effective leadership modality that should be considered into client-involved structures and systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper narrates the concept of Sustainable Peace Leadership and examines how three prominent Peace Activists from South and Southeast Asia measure up to the concept. The article will consider the works and ideas of Mohandas K. Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), Lhamo Thondup (The 14th Dalai Lama), and Nguyen Xuan Bao (Thich Nhat Hanh). Mahatma Gandhi was instrumental in achieving Indian independence from the British Empire. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and has managed a difficult relationship with the Chinese government following the occupation of Tibet. Thich Nhat Hanh was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist and is known as the 'father of mindfulness'. The paper identified several characteristics of Peace Leaders. These include being a charismatic leader who motivates their followers to achieve their goals in a non-violent and inclusive manner. Peace leaders meditate and spend time developing inner peace which then leads to outer peace. The paper also asserts that peace leaders are capable of recognizing the humanity in their opponents and seek a mutually beneficial solution. The three chosen individuals are all recognised as being charismatic leaders who were prominent peace leaders. All were deeply spiritual and practiced meditation and other inner work on a regular basis. They stressed the humanity in their opponents, based on their religious beliefs and the concepts of non-duality and interdependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Internet technology continues to advance and as various social media platforms proliferate, consumers have gained the ability to distribute video content across a multitude of online channels. A vlog (video blog) is an online video documentary format used by vloggers (video bloggers) to record their daily lives and share their experiences with various products. In recent years, Vloggers who publish vlogs on social media have gained increasing popularity. The use of vlogs to convey product information has received widespread attention, leading an increasing number of companies to consider them part of their marketing mix and actively incorporate them into their marketing strategies. However, it is still unclear which factors influence consumer attitudes while watching vlogs. Therefore, it has become a focus of attention in both academia and the business world to clarify how vlog promotion content influences consumer attitudes and to use vlog promotion to improve consumer attitudes, thereby increasing consumers' purchase intentions and achieving brand promotion objectives. The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the factors that influence consumer attitudes towards vlog promotion content. This article is based on the ABC attitude model theory, and data collected through an online questionnaire survey of Chinese consumers were analysed to statistically verify the relationship between consumers' purchase intentions and factors related to vlog content. The predictor variables included trust in vlog, vlogger popularity, vlogger personal appeal, understanding of vlogger advertised products, vlog content, and frequency of interaction between vlogger and fans. Path analysis revealed that two intermediate variables related to vlogger (cognition and emotion) had a positive impact, and a model was constructed to further examine their influence on consumer behaviour (dependent variable). The research findings of this study reveal that three key factors significantly influence consumer attitudes towards vlog promotion. These factors encompass the understanding of vlogger's advertised products, vlog's content, and the frequency of interaction between vlogger and fans. For future vlog promotions, it is recommended to augment the vlogger's product knowledge and approachability. To create captivating vlog content, emphasis should be placed on enhancing its entertainment value, establishing personal connections with viewers, and encouraging shareability. Moreover, the vlogger should actively engage with dedicated fans, prioritize valuable fan comments, and foster harmonious relationships. Furthermore, the findings of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of vlog promotion for various brands and services, providing valuable insights into the content of promotional activities for different brands and services. This highlights the strategic significance of vlog promotion and its relevance in guiding promotional strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the dynamic relationship between the spiritual community of Damanhur and its founder, Oberto Airaudi. Scholars consider Airaudi to be an example of Weberian charismatic leadership that was sui generis; the community, however, experienced an early routinisation, which granted it longevity and stability. Doctrinal and social evolution instead suggests a change in this charismatic relationship over the years, which occurred in four phases. His charisma passed from the ability to perform occult practices (occultist), to ideate a syncretic cosmology centred on Damanhur (religious), eventually allowing him to become an "inspirer from the outside" (inspirational). The last phase explains the survival and partial routinisation of the charisma after his death (post mortem). The study primarily relies on the analysis of Damanhurian writings, with a particular focus on the initial ten years. It also incorporates qualitative data from fieldwork and ethnographic material available in the scientific literature. The analysis suggests that Damanhur did not start as a charismatic community but as a social experiment. The development of Airaudi's charisma, via a syncretic mythology based on a religious concept of memory, absorbed Damanhur's social dimension, shaping it according to a collective spiritual endeavour aimed at reconnecting human beings with their divine inner nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a tendency to find populist characteristics in all experiences of representation based on personal leaderships which present themselves as outsiders and establish direct communication with the citizenry. This paper seeks to contribute to avoid this conceptual stretching, proposing to start from a concept of a higher level of generality, "immediate politics", and then differentiate between a populist type and a type that I will call "proximity". The anti-charismatic or proximity identification is based on the figure of the "ordinary person", close and empathetic, although without the component of "extraordinary person" implied in charisma, and without the correlate of the construction of a collective subject or People. In short, this paper asks about this kind of "populism without a People" that is also present in contemporary politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Max Weber's ambivalent view of evolutionary theory has sparked ongoing debate. While rejecting simplistic social Darwinism, his writings reveal an implicit evolutionary logic underlying broader cultural transformations. Across multiple works, Weber modeled cultural change through the interplay between charismatic innovation and institutional order. This paper argues Weber provides a sophisticated model of cultural evolution by elucidating the relationship between these two forces. The aim is to demonstrate how framing Weber's dichotomy in evolutionary terms offers novel insight into his nuanced vision of social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The messianic structure of human experience is manifest in the form of waiting—for an object who will alleviate suffering, and thereby, bring about change. The underpinning of such waiting is imagined here as messianic hope. In individuals, families, cults, religion, and politics, we may detect such hope—one that perhaps makes the unbearability of life bearable. This longing may get concretized in the shape of a person who comes to represent a link with God. From different vertices, messianic power may get located in the analyst, patriarch, the godman, or the political leader. Links that get forged between such figures and those who are waiting, may be thought of as messianic links. As a messianic group gets consolidated, it often displays certain primitive features. Such groups tend to veer towards a display of omnipotence, resolute action, a solution‐driven language. They may seek to cut off contact with painful reality and anoint someone who can enable that. Ideas of time are wrenched away from its painful association with loss. Time is made predictable and repetitive. Deliverance is promised, incertitude discarded. Messianic language is often evocative and enigmatic. It can be an expression of impotency. But language may also be used to fuel omnipotent longing, as with the use of omniscience by the anointed messiah. Such messianic groups may come together with shared magical beliefs in the annointed figure. But links by their very nature are dynamic and so, a link fueled by awe may also devolve into paranoia or else dependency or may be discarded altogether. This paper looks at two documentaries, and a novel, to give shape to messianic links. Here we see instances of how enigma may be replaced by charisma, and strength by hypervigilance. In that sense it seems that regardless of how they originate, they are condemned to move towards what Bion (1962) calls “minus links” or links that lead away from truth and the growth of the mind. We see that messianic links may either end catastrophically, or decay and degenerate to the point of disappearing, or else, lose the kernel, but assiduously preserve the shell, or finally institutionalized as deifying links. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines crowds, leaders, and media after the 1979 Revolution of Iran. It focuses on media that contests hegemonic power by acting as a "guide" for an otherwise "leaderless movement," especially in contexts where conventional "guides" are illegitimate or absent. It argues that such media reveals the partisan reality of political order obscured by the myth of leadership, the idea that the presence of a leader implies a political order. I focus on International Women's Day 1979 when crowds protesting the Ayatollah Khomeini's decision to enforce the mandatory veil were caught in a paradox: as subjects of history and objects of representation. With focus on the non-partisan newspaper Ayandegan, the article shows how the crowds, objects of representation, became political subjects, as potential guides. Despite its efforts to remain neutral, Ayandegan became partisan when it unwittingly challenged the "charismatic leader" by giving presence to the partisan crowds. The mediated relation between leader and led on 8 March 1979 and after is instructive for our understanding of the role media can play in leaderless movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the charismatic leadership of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi, analysing their influence on South Asian political history. The primary objective is to compare their leadership qualities and their impact on their respective political movements. Background information highlights the importance of Max Weber's theory of charisma in understanding their influence. The methodology involves historical and analytical methods, utilizing primary sources like speeches and secondary sources such as books and academic articles. Results indicate Jinnah's strategic political acumen and communication skills were crucial in creating Pakistan, contrasting with Gandhi's moral authority and nonviolent approach that faced challenges in achieving political unity. The study underscores the distinct nature of their charisma and its significant impact on South Asian political history. Recommendations suggest further comparative analyses of political leaders to understand the role of charismatic leadership in historical movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The swift widespread shift from face-to-face to emergency remote teaching (ERT) due to the COVID-19 pandemic was accompanied by numerous technical, psychological, and pedagogical challenges and prompted educators to look for ways to improve their performance to preserve the high quality of learning. One way to do this is for teachers to adopt charismatic behaviours. This study aims at investigating the concept of and factors determining teachers' charisma and its connection with students' intrinsic motivation and perceived learning in a synchronous online learning setting during ERT. The questionnaires measuring students' intrinsic motivation, perceived learning, and teachers' charisma were used to collect the responses from Ukrainian university students who reported on their online learning experienced amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Varimax rotation method was applied to determine the factors of charisma. Correlation analyses established a connection between students' intrinsic motivation and perceived learning and teachers' charisma as well as each factor of charisma independently. The research is the first of its kind done in an online learning setting in an Eastern European cultural context. The research validates some previous findings done in a face-toface teaching context. The current study also established the connection between humor and empathy as a factor of charismatic teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countless articles and books have been written about transformational leadership theory since the late 1970s when it first appeared in the literature. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to illustrate that transformational leadership contains both logical and psychological problems when explaining the nature of leadership and as an empirically supportable and verifiable construct. It aims to show that its failure to garner evidence from a scientific methodological analysis may not invalidate its efficacy if it is viewed from an alternative lens, such as aesthetics. An aesthetic frame is one that recognizes sensuous ways of knowing since feelings and emotions are just as important as reason and logic. An aesthetic approach to leadership would see leadership as more of an art than a science. This paper is not arguing for the abandonment of transformational leadership theory; rather it is saying that an aesthetic lens is likely to yield a richer, more artistic, and more nuanced account of what is understood and enacted as transformational leadership. This way, the manifestations of transformational leadership may live on in the arts and continue to inspire and motivate us.

This article investigates a neglected aspect of charismatic authority: the problem of economic practices of charismatic leaders and their communities. Drawing on Weber's classical theory of charisma, I argue that charismatic communities and their ideologies economically operate on principles of gift and bounty. I demonstrate the value of this analysis on a contemporary case of Elon Musk's charisma and his involvement with the Dogecoin cryptocurrency through Twitter. Through analysis of Musk's performances and his admirers' online activity, I argue that to those who believed in Musk, his involvement constituted either a gift to the community or a bounty-hunter-like feat that further enhanced his charismatic authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociologists have productively theorized power and politics via typologies and genealogies. This article combines these theorizing modalities to analyze the election of Joseph Biden in the 2020 US presidential election. Thinking about presidential genealogy, the semiotics of sequence and succession favored humility over hubris in the victory of Biden after Donald Trump. As well, drawing on Weber's three types of authority (traditional, charismatic, and legal-rational) and Fred Block's elaboration of a flexible but constrained and accountable missing fourth type, this article terms that fourth type anticharisma and reads Joe Biden as an anticharismatic aspirant. Whereas charisma draws its strength from the monopolization of attention by the leader, rupture, and crisis, anticharisma aspires to domestic tranquility, competence, familiarity, and empathy. The elaborated typology of authority presented here provides important angles into both the election of Joe Biden as the anticharismatic candidate and the constraints on democratic leadership in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the verbal engagement strategies that EFL instructors adopt when teaching English over Instagram. These instructors create videos where they teach English and share them on Instagram. Twenty-five highly engaging English teaching videos on Instagram were used as the data of this study. To discover the engagement strategies that the instructors used, a combination of Hyland's Engagement Model and Martin and White's Appraisal Model, was applied to the teachers' talk. The results indicated a slight difference in the frequency of engagement resources between the two models. Moreover, the results related to Hyland's framework revealed that listener pronouns (second person pronouns) had considerably higher frequency than other engagement devices in the instructors' speech. Nevertheless, personal aside and appeals to shared knowledge were used to a limited extent. Regarding the model of Martin and White, the result indicated that the overall engagement resources of heterogloss were about twice those of the monogloss. Moreover, between two broad categories of heterogloss, the resources of the contract category were significantly more common than those of the expand category in the teachers' talk. The findings of this study have fruitful pedagogical implications. As the results suggest, teachers can bring the learners to discourse using listener pronouns, and in this way increase learner engagement in lessons. Moreover, the heterogloss resources, specifically the contract ones, can assist teachers in engaging learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive research shows that atypical actors who defy established contextual standards and norms are subject to skepticism and face a higher risk of rejection. Indeed, atypical actors combine features, behaviors, or products in unconventional ways, thereby generating confusion and instilling doubts about their legitimacy. Nevertheless, atypicality is often viewed as a precursor to sociocultural innovation and a strategy to expand the capacity to deliver valued goods and services. Contextualizing the conditions under which atypicality is celebrated or punished has been a significant theoretical challenge for organizational scholars interested in reconciling this tension. Thus far, scholars have focused primarily on audience-related factors or actors' characteristics (e.g., status and reputation). Here, we explore how atypical actors can leverage linguistic features of their narratives to counteract evaluative discounts by analyzing a unique collection of 78,758 narratives from crafters on Etsy, the largest digital marketplace for handmade items. Marrying processing fluency theory with linguistics literature and relying on a combination of topic modeling, automated textual analysis, and econometrics, we show that categorically atypical producers who make more use of abstraction, cohesive cues, and conventional topics in their narratives are more likely to overcome the evaluative discounts they would ordinarily experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text attempts to analyze the competition for the leadership role in the young Bábí religious community after the execution of their leader, Báb (1819–1850). With the elimination of many leaders, a small group stood out who were willing to replace the absent leader. Two preferences arose within the Babi community: forceful and pacifist. Motivated by the hunger to settle scores, supporters of the first option wanted to fight and reach the victory predicted in the Shiʻite tradition. The second option's followers, however, rejected all acts of violence, preferring to look at the Báb's texts, calling their worshipers to lofty ideals as a method of luring other people to the new religion. Presently, after the sentencing to punishment of the Prophet Báb, several people emerged among the former Shiʻites' group who made claims to authority in the community. Nevertheless, quite quickly, the main confrontation came down to a conflict between two outstanding personalities. Mírzá Yaḥyá Núrí (1831–1912), representing the radical trend of Babism, nicknamed Ṣubḥ-i Azal, was fighting for leadership with Mírzá Ḥusajn-'Alí Núrí (1817–1892), his half-brother, belonging to the peaceful Bábí party. This article describing the rivalry between two relatives for the leadership position also allows us to see the process of writing down, codifying and spreading the young Bayán religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historians invariably frame the early life of Laloeshiga, more commonly known as Tenskwatawa, the Shawnee Prophet, as one of unmitigated chaos and disorder. He emerges in scholarly literature as a ne'er-do-well: failed hunter and warrior, adulterer and wife beater, penurious healer, and dissolute alcoholic. A near-death experience during the winter of 1805 triggered visions that led to his rapid rise to religious authority in the revitalization movement he led with his brother, the famed Shawnee leader Tecumseh. Newly discovered sources and systematic review of older ones reveal a vastly different origin story. None of the supposed facts of the Prophet's early life, character, or visions can be substantiated by the documentary record. Scholars have worked for decades in the shadow of dubious nineteenth-century biographies and twentieth-century social theories that translate charismatic religion into narratives of medical pathology or social stress. Cutting through the tangle of myth and misinformation obscuring the Shawnee Prophet's origins, the following argument attempts to clear a path toward a new understanding of Tenskwatawa's prophetic career grounded in recent theories of religion as presence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the concept of charisma in the Middle Ages, tracing its origins back to St. Paul in the first century. Charisma was originally seen as a special gift from God that enabled believers to perform extraordinary feats for the benefit of the community. However, the meaning of charisma has evolved over time, with Max Weber redefining it as captivating attractiveness or charm that enables one to engage in leadership roles. This special issue of Religions analyzes the concept of charisma in the Middle Ages, examining its theories, practices, and representations in various disciplines such as history, art history, and political philosophy. The articles in this collection aim to provide a nuanced understanding of charisma in the medieval context, free from anachronistic definitions. [Extracted from the article]

The efficiency of the transformative leader in an organization is given by the following factors: charisma, intelligence and inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and consideration for the individual. The charismatic emotional bond eliminates the emotional and logical resistance to change. The intellectual stimulation offers new solutions and innovations and it makes the followers responsible. The transformative leader, regardless of whether he is at the base of his career or is well-experienced, motivates the subordinates through interpersonal tact, judgment, confidence, respect, and a sense of duty, he encourages them to realize the importance of their work, he teaches them how to manifest, through their interests, in the name of the entire organization or collective. They cultivate adhesion and people's engagement in fulfilling the organization's tasks, maintaining the demands of the people they lead at a high level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the rise of anti-Masonry in western New York in the 1820s and its connection to the emergence of Mormonism. Both movements gained followers and generated controversy during this time. Anti-Masonry was influential for a few years before fading, while negative attention towards Mormonism began in 1827. The article explores the origins and influence of Freemasonry, as well as the events surrounding the "Morgan Affair" that sparked anger against Freemasons and led to the formation of the anti-Masonic movement. It also discusses the influence of anti-Masonic rhetoric on the Book of Mormon and its early followers, although the significance of anti-Masonry in the book is debated. While there were some individuals who were both anti-Masons and Mormons, the overall impact of the two movements on each other was not significant. [Extracted from the article]

Sociologists have been debating the nature of charisma since the discipline's inception. Recent debates in the sociology of charisma concern the role of social interaction and the place of organisations in the generation of charisma. As these debates have developed, the interdisciplinary field of conservation has begun to debate the concept of charismatic species. To date, literature from the conservation sciences has identified those species most likely to be identified as charismatic and those variables most frequently associated with charismatic species. However, little theorising has been done on the causes of charisma in charismatic species. This article uses the case of charismatic species to outline sociological arguments about charisma more generally. This theoretical exercise advances the literature in both sociology and conservation in several ways. For sociologists, the case of charismatic species shows that seemingly competitive models of charisma are in fact complementary. For those interested in the uses of charismatic species for conservation, this article demystifies charismatic species, demonstrating the ways in which they are historically and socially constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the dynamic relationship between the spiritual community of Damanhur and its founder, Oberto Airaudi. Scholars consider Airaudi to be an example of Weberian charismatic leadership that was sui generis; the community, however, experienced an early routinisation, which granted it longevity and stability. Doctrinal and social evolution instead suggests a change in this charismatic relationship over the years, which occurred in four phases. His charisma passed from the ability to perform occult practices (occultist), to ideate a syncretic cosmology centred on Damanhur (religious), eventually allowing him to become an “inspirer from the outside” (inspirational). The last phase explains the survival and partial routinisation of the charisma after his death (post mortem). The study primarily relies on the analysis of Damanhurian writings, with a particular focus on the initial ten years. It also incorporates qualitative data from fieldwork and ethnographic material available in the scientific literature. The analysis suggests that Damanhur did not start as a charismatic community but as a social experiment. The development of Airaudi’s charisma, via a syncretic mythology based on a religious concept of memory, absorbed Damanhur’s social dimension, shaping it according to a collective spiritual endeavour aimed at reconnecting human beings with their divine inner nature.

David C. Rapoport, a prominent scholar of terrorism and pioneer in the study of religious terrorism, passed away at the age of 95. He made significant contributions to the field, particularly in his examination of the political connotations and underlying themes of violence in sacred texts. Rapoport founded the journal Terrorism and Political Violence, which allowed for a wide range of interdisciplinary perspectives on terrorism studies. He was known for his kindness, generosity, and mentorship of young scholars. His four waves theory of modern terrorism is one of his most notable contributions. Rapoport's work will be greatly missed in the field. [Extracted from the article]