Abstract:
The article discusses Max Weber's concept of charisma, taking as a hypothesis the relationship that the author establishes between the category of charisma and a problem of explanation, which can be summarized by the question: how the new emerges in history and how the world turns and takes a new direction? Charisma is not just one type (of domination) irrational and revolutionary; however, it is mainly a sociological explanatory model for understanding social change. In this sense, Weber elaborates the concept of charisma as a complementary category to the concept of rationalism. The history of society moves in the field of tension between rationalism and irrationalism. Charisma can be seen as a key to the sociological understanding of social processes in which the apparent evolutionary and one-dimensional trends of rationalism burst explosively, suspending the institutions to gain mastery and control in ways to personalize collective contexts. The process of turning charisma part of the everyday experience, however, always leads to further rationalization of the spheres of life.
Keywords:
Max Weber; Charisma; Rationality; Irrationality; Social change