Charisma and social phenomenology: Gerda Walther, Herman Schmalenbach and Aron Gurwitsch

This paper explores the contribution of early social phenomenologists working in the 1920s and 1930s in Germany to charisma theory. Specifically, I focus on the works of Gerda Walther, Herman Schmalenbach and Aron Gurwitsch, whose work is now being re-appreciated in the field of social philosophy. L...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of classical sociology : JCS Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 3 - 19
Main Author Zelinsky, Dominik
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.02.2023
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects
Authority
Charisma
Leadership
Social philosophy
Gerda Walther
phenomenology
Max Weber
Aron Gurwitsch
charisma
Herman Schmalenbach
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Summary:This paper explores the contribution of early social phenomenologists working in the 1920s and 1930s in Germany to charisma theory. Specifically, I focus on the works of Gerda Walther, Herman Schmalenbach and Aron Gurwitsch, whose work is now being re-appreciated in the field of social philosophy. Living in the interbellum German-speaking space, these authors were keenly interested in the issue of charismatic authority and leadership introduced into the social sciences by Max Weber, with whom they engaged in an indirect intellectual dialogue. I argue that their phenomenological background equipped them well to understand the intricacies of the experiential and emotional dimension of charisma, and that their insights remain valid even a century after they have been first published.
ISSN:1468-795X
1741-2897
DOI:10.1177/1468795X211049626