The Routinization of Rajneeshpuram: Charisma and Authority in the Rajneesh Movement, 1981-1985

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Date

2015-07

Authors

Paulson, Dashiell Edward

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University of Oregon

Abstract

This paper concerns the application of Max Weber's theory on the routinization of charisma to the development of a large commune in southeast Oregon during the early 1980s. Ma Anand Sheela reorganized this community from a purely charismatic movement into a tightly regimented organization that she ruled through traditional, despotic authority and a bureaucratic administrative staff characterized by their loyalty to Sheela. Sheela's institutionalization of the Rajneesh movement at the Oregon commune embodies Max Weber's theory on the routinization of charisma in social groups, as argued in part 1 of his Wirtschafi und Gesellschafi.

Description

67 pages. A thesis presented to the Department of History and the Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Arts, Summer 2015.

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