Group Survival
Last worked on:
10/3/95
see comments next slide
Suggestions for building this lecture
- This is a new lecture for Fall 95. There are a number of
things that can be done to strengthened the lect.
In class, I used illustrations from The Family. This should be
built into the lecture. [use a/b a 4 min video clip of Father
David talking about death.
- Either bring in succession issues with other groups or schedule
their presentation for other lectures.
- Locate some graphics for illustrations -- none whatsoever
in this lecture.
- Might also locate a short reading that would be appopriate
for this topic. 10/10/95
Group Survival:
Succession and Institutionalization
Soc 257
New Religious Movements
Lecture Outline
- Authority
- Charisma and Succession
- Dilemmas of Routinization
Part I
Authority
Locating authority as a social activity
Authority is the socially recognized right of individuals
or institutions to act on behalf of others or in the name of institutions.
- Authority stands in juxtaposition to coercion
which is activity based on brute force or the threat of force.
- Authority is legitimate whereas coercion
is often illegitimate.
- Authority and coercion are both types of power.
Types of authority
- Traditional authority
- Rational-legal authority
- Charismatic authority
Traditional Authority
- Power legitimated by the sanctity of age-old
customs and traditions.
- "this is the way we do things."
- "why"
- "because we have always done it this way"
- Tradition is a carrier of moral force.
- while taken-for-granted , we can usually locate
the origins and presuppositions of traditional authority.
Rational-Legal Authority
- Authority legitimized by rational proceedures.
- Policies and orders formulated in acordance with
rules based on rational proceedures.
- Modern bureaucracy is the instrument for the
execution of rational-legal authority.
- Law is supreme.
Charismatic authority
- Power based on the extraordinary or supernaural
attributes that people impute to a leader.
- Charismatic leaders use this power to mobilize
followers and create a sense of mission.
- In tension with traditional and rational-legal
authority.
- Tends toward antiestablishment, even revolutionary
tendencies.
Part II
Charisma and Sucession
Succession
- What happens when the founding leader dies?
- Most groups fail to survive.
- They may dispense rather quickly or it may take
severl decades or even a few generations.
- Other groups splinter into two or more groups.
- Only a few survive and grow.
How are new leaders selected?
- Founder may select successor or provide a process
for selection.
- Sometimes the individual selected is not up to
the demands of succession and a struggle to replace thaat persons
ensues.
- Often no provisions for succession are made at
all.
- How the succession process occurs has important
implications for group survival.
Transformation of authority from leader's
charisma to organizational process
- The authority of the founding leader was grounded
in charisma.
- Charisma is not an inheritable
trait...nor can it be assigned to a successor.
- The process of succession involves the transfer
of charisma from an individual to the very essence of
the group.
- Sociologists refer to this as the routinization
of charisma.
Routinization of Charisma
- Religious ideology and organizational roles (proceedures)
replace personality and become inbued with sacred meaning.
- Written records (scriptures) become a source
of veneration and a guide to conduct.
- Leaders become agents of organizational mission.
- Decision making process becomes sacralized.
- Committed is transferred to the organization
Routinization of charisma not a routine
process
- The road from charismatically authority to organizationally
grounded authority is a precarious process.
- Founders are often visionaries, not organization
builders.
- Some teachings may be subject to disconformation
and need to be changed to avoid plausibility crisis.
Members may disagree about how the founders expectations
for the group are the be carried out.... and be willing to engage
in struggle for leadership in order to act according to their
understanding.
- Others may become disillusioned by the struggle
for leadership succession to the point the disaffilate.
Factors that contribute to successful
institutionalization
???
Paper topics invited
Part III
Dilemmas of Institutionalizatoin
Dilemmas of Institutionalization
Although institutionalization is necessary for any organization
to survive, it brings with it all sorts of mixed blessings --
or dilemmas.
In is classic study of Mormons, O'Dea concluded that although
instiutionalization is necessary, it changes the character of
the movement.
"religion both needs most and suffers most from
institutionalization."
O'Dea's
Dilemmas of Institutionalization
- Dilemma of mixed motivations
- The symbolic dilemma
- Dilemma of administrative order
- Dilemma of delimitation
- Dilemma of power
- Dilemma of expansion
Dilemma of mixed motivations
- Discipleship v. status, career, stability
- These struggles can lead to:
- goal displacement
- new goals
- new theology
The symbolic dilemma
- Objectification v. alienation
Examples:
- Fish -- communion
- Cup -- commitment
- Blood -- God's sacarifice
Dilemma of administrative order
- Elaboration of policy v flexibility
Love Charter of The Family
Dilemma of delimitation
- Concrete definitions v. substitution of the letter
of the spirit
Dilemma of power
Dilemma of expansion
- Routinized structure v. communalism
Next session:
First Hour Examination