Mapping Charisma among Chinese Religious Specialists

Dados Bibliográficos

ID20199358
AutoresVincent Goossaert (Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laïcités, autor correspondente)
Ano2008
Volume12
Fascículo2
Páginas12-28
Data de publicação2008-11-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoNova Religio The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1092-6690 • E-ISSN: 1541-8480
EditoraProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1525/nr.2008.12.2.12
OpenAlexW2025029022
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas8
Referências citadas8

Modern and contemporary Chinese society (from 1800 to the present, for the purposes of this article) contains numerous types of religious specialists: Daoists, Buddhists, spirit-mediums, self-cultivation teachers, and so on. Most of these do not construct their authority on a charismatic basis, because the global division of labor in the Chinese religious economy divides leadership and authority among different persons. This article looks at the idioms (emic categories) the Chinese use to describe religious specialists and the division of religious labor. It suggests that situations of charismatic authority arise when one person can overcome the division of labor and be equally convincing in different idioms, thus able to meet all the expectations of the extraordinary from his/her followers. While potential charisma, evident in mastery of the various idioms, is rather common, situations where a charismatic relationship is in fact activated by both leader and followers are less so

Charisma · Charismatic authority · Division of labour · Emic and etic · History of religions · Political science · Sociology · Anthropology · Computer Science · Law · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Philosophy · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious studies · Social Psychology · Workplace Spirituality and Leadership