Table Of ContentCharisma and Patronage
Reasoning with Max Weber
Andrew D. McCulloch
Charisma and Patronage
… for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric
acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might
have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden
life, and rest in unvisited tombs.
The final words of George Eliot’s
Middlemarch (1871–2)
Charisma and Patronage
Reasoning with Max Weber
AndREW d. McCulloCh
University of Lincoln, UK
© Andrew d. McCulloch 2014
All rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Andrew d. McCulloch has asserted his right under the Copyright, designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
McCulloch, Andrew d.
Charisma and patronage : reasoning with Max Weber / by Andrew d. McCulloch.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBn 978-0-7546-7344-6 (hardback) -- ISBn 978-1-4724-4025-9 (ebook) -- ISBn
978-1-4724-4026-6 (epub) 1. Charisma (Personality trait)--Social aspects--Case studies.
2. Charisma (Personality trait)--Political aspects--Case studies. 3. Leadership--Social
aspects. 4. Political leadership--Social aspects. 5. Weber, Max, 1864-1920. I. Title.
BF698.35.C45M33 2014
303.3--dc23
2014016109
ISBn 9780754673446 (hbk)
ISBn 9781472440259 (ebk –PdF)
ISBn 9781472440266 (ebk – ePUB)
III
Printed in the United Kingdom by Henry Ling Limited,
at the dorset Press, dorchester, dT1 1Hd
Contents
Preface vii
Introduction 1
1 Max Weber and the Problem of Charisma 13
2 Jesus, Christ and the Mythology of Charisma 27
3 Utopian Communities, Charisma and Moral Despotism 49
4 Charisma as a “Career” 65
5 Joan of Arc: A Case of Subordinate Charisma 75
6 Hitler’s Charisma: The Worst Case Scenario and
the Paradigmatic Case 99
7 Nelson Mandela: Charismatic Agent of Passive Revolution 147
8 Crises within US Capitalism and the Search for
Corporate Charismatic Leadership 179
9 Patronage and Political Charisma 199
Bibliography 221
Index 231
This page has been left blank intentionally
Preface
This book has a very long genesis, and one thing it did not do is write itself.
The idea for it began nearly 40 years ago when I was in a crowd listening in the
open air to the late Tony Cliff, who was an extremely dynamic speaker. Cliff had
not long before disbanded the International Socialists, expelling many, and had
installed himself as undisputed leader of the replacement Socialist Workers’ Party.
At the time of the expulsions, Cliff was working on his four-volume study of
Lenin. His allegiance was to Lenin as a leader, rather than to his politics and, for
Cliff, Lenin’s chief virtue as a leader was to skilfully ride the changing currents of
working class consciousness and struggle (Shaw, 1978: 138–40). A person just in
front of me in the crowd confided to his neighbour the perceptive comment that
unfortunately charisma was not just a problem for the political right but also for
the organisations of the left. Although I have long ago forgotten what it was that
we were all protesting about, the painful truth of that overheard remark from an
unknown source planted itself irrevocably in my mind. This book is its strange
fruit, although perhaps now I would rephrase the overheard remark: charisma is a
problem of the Right and for and of the Left.
The eavesdropping occurred when I was happily teaching sociology at North
East London Polytechnic, in a department ably led by Mike Rustin. After three
years there I moved north to teach in Newcastle. The main courses I taught in the
north were in sociological theory and I also taught a course in the sociology of
community. I had begun writing about community and communities earlier when I
was the late Philip Abrams’ research assistant. This book would have been better if
Philip had been able to read and comment on it. As it is, I rely considerably on our
joint work (Abrams and McCulloch, 1976) and his superb Historical Sociology
(Abrams, 1981). Being able to write with Philip was the very best of learning
experiences. The community course I taught in Newcastle included a section
on utopian communities, and it became hard to avoid the conclusion that many
utopian community structures seemed peculiarly fertile ground for the flourishing
of charismatic leadership. I am lucky to have shared in Newcastle this interest in
researching and teaching about communities with the Reverend Dr Bill Pickering.
Many years ago Michael Howard of the University of Maine and I collaborated on
a piece. Mike was more sceptical about communities than I was then, and partly
for that reason, the piece did not get published. However, what we did together
forms an intellectual substrate to some of this book.
The concept of charismatic leadership is of singular importance in the
theoretical work of the historical sociologist, Max Weber. Eventually I was able
to publish a critical article on Weber, charisma and the alleged charisma of Jesus
viii Charisma and Patronage
Christ (McCulloch, 2005),1 and that article is the basis of two chapters in this
work (and my thanks to Sam Whimster, the editor of Max Weber Studies, for
permission to use that material). However, although it was not part of the article,
I realised when I was writing that Weber had been lucky enough, in many senses,
to write before the terrifying period of Nazi rule and the charismatic dictatorship
of Adolf Hitler which, of course, has profoundly affected how not just I think
about charisma.
Many people, not all of them named here, have supported me along the way when
I was slowly writing this book. Writing is mostly a desperate attempt to distance
myself from my own stupidity. I was only able to lurch towards a conclusion
when I came lamentably late to the realisation that systems of patronage were the
key to sociological understanding about charismatic leadership and rule. Many
people have enquired about the book’s progress, but the fact that sometimes I did
not have the faintest idea what I was trying to do, and changed my mind about the
point of the book several times, meant that intellectual encouragement and certain
personal friendships have been crucial. Foremost amongst those performing these
combined roles were Ted Benton of the University of Essex and Harry Collins of
the University of Cardiff. Ted and I also share an abiding interest in the natural
world. I have played a role in the Conference of Socialist Economists and been a
member of the editorial board of the associated journal, Capital & Class. I would
not have survived as a writer without the intellectual sustenance I got from contact
with those comrades. My brother-in-law, Professor Lind Coop, boosted my
intellectual confidence at significant points and I was thankful for the interest of
his father-in-law, Dr Bill Wright. I am also grateful to the publisher’s anonymous
reader who saw some merit in an earlier version of this text and offered some very
useful comments.
During my academic employment in Newcastle-upon-Tyne there were a
number of immediate colleagues who were important to my long-term well-being.
They are Pam Davies, John Donnelly, Graeme Kirkpatrick, Dave Knight, Kevin
McLoughlin, John Newton, Monica Shaw and Mave Mundy. With the last of these
I taught sociological theory jointly for many years and it was to my profit, for
Mave is a wise woman of rare integrity. Of course, in the self-seeking deserts of
morality that many higher educational institutions have become, neither of these
valuable qualities of hers was adequately recognised. Or, perhaps, it is rather she
was never promoted because it was noticed that she possessed these worthwhile
but threatening qualities. The Social Science Centre, based in Lincoln, UK, is
a cooperative which has been offering free higher education for three years. Its
animating spirits are Joss Winn, Gary Saunders, Mike Neary and Sarah Amsler.
Joining the cooperative as a scholar has been a joy: friendship and zestful respect
make for good thinking.
1 The article began with the promise that it “was part of a longer investigation into
the history and sociology of charisma” (McCulloch, 2005: 7). I am glad that I was not able
to imagine that making good that promise would take so long as it has.
Preface ix
Roger Powell, the wildlife photographer, is my oldest and my staunchest male
friend. Roger has a profound gift for friendship and I am therefore not the only
one who is grateful for the comfort and stimulation of his company. Our days in
the field are always memorable, even if we see nothing of note. The same is true
of Hervé and Maryvonne Bertozzi, whose recent friendship has enriched our lives.
The home in France of Peter and Barbara Tame has been a haven and they saved
my life in 2007 when they took me to hospital in Ganges with what turned out to be
a burst appendix. Kirsteen Thomson and Bryn Jones offered encouragement and
sage intellectual advice, as did Geoff Payne and John Veit Wilson. In particular,
this was true of Neil Jordan, my editor at Ashgate. Chapter 8 could not have
been written without the books kindly lent from his extensive modern business
collection by Dr Jason Kingdon. One of the casualties of my meandering progress
was a chapter on Pericles, which took many months to write before I decided to
turn off its life-support machine. Professor P J Rhodes of Durham University very
kindly responded to one of my enquiries. I am sorry that his kindness has not been
properly repaid by seeing the chapter in print.
Unfortunately, many of the people I have mentioned will probably not agree
with all that I have written. Those who write will certainly know, however, that the
eventual results of writing seriously are not always what one expects, and some
parts of this book were indeed a surprise to me.
The long period of writing was punctuated by a series of sad and sometimes
tragic events. These have been made more bearable by my mother, Jacqueline,
and my sisters, Fiona, Helen and Lindsey who, with their partners, make a loving
family. Peter Allwood made a beautiful house, sold it to us, and Peter and Elaine
became our friends. Ian Pedley and his medical team have kept me alive. Both my
sister, Helen, and Jeananne Coop, my sister-in-law, are remarkable inspirations to
those of us who are also ill, as well as to the healthy. That is also true of our son,
Alex, who was born with both a serious congenital heart defect and the wise spirit
to enjoy a full and successful life.
I have been extremely fortunate in the development of a blissful partnership
with Celia McCulloch. At the centre of our life together have been wonderful and
gifted children, Anna, Clare, Ruth, Laura, Alex and Julia, and our 11 grandchildren.
Celia is an accomplished poet and it is to her that I generally defer in matters of
grammar and written style. However, much as I might not wish to do so, I must
accept all responsibility for any infelicities in this book.
The book is dedicated to my late father, a good, kind soul, whom I cannot
ever remember reading a book. He would have despised charismatic leaders, the
subject of this book, because he was embarrassed by anything flashy or boastful.
