The Presentation of the Charismatic Self in Everyday Life: Reflections on a Canadian New Religious Movement

Taking inspiration from Goffman's dramaturgical metaphor of sociality, this article explores the dynamics involved in the presentation of the charismatic self in everyday life, with a focus on the new religious movement led by John de Ruiter. The concept of “the everyday” was central to the tho...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Joosse, Paul (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Oxford Univ. Press 2012
In: Sociology of religion
Year: 2012, Volume: 73, Issue: 2, Pages: 174-199
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
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Parallel Edition:Electronic
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Summary:Taking inspiration from Goffman's dramaturgical metaphor of sociality, this article explores the dynamics involved in the presentation of the charismatic self in everyday life, with a focus on the new religious movement led by John de Ruiter. The concept of “the everyday” was central to the thought of both Erving Goffman and Max Weber, and I illustrate how a marriage of insights from both thinkers can provide new opportunities for understanding the causes of charismatic disenchantment. Specifically, I focus on instances of discrepancy between de Ruiter's charismatic and noncharismatic roles. Among the various alternative, noncharismatic images of de Ruiter that are in circulation, those of psychological and moral deviance produced and propounded by the countercult movement are less germane to processes of deconversion than simple “ordinary guy” roles that devotees glimpse during backstage encounters with him.
ISSN:1759-8818
Contains:Enthalten in: Sociology of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1093/socrel/srr045