Production and Reproduction of Social Inequalities: The Role of Group Charisma and Group Disgrace

Abstract

The paper deals with production and reproduction of social inequalities in Elias’ sociology. For him, the key for any sociological approach to these issues is the use of the concept of social figuration and of the asymmetrical dynamics of «disposition» which drive it. In this essay we will try to decipher these themes (and the more general approach underlying them), starting from the reading of a little known text by Elias which was published only partially; i.e. the speech on the concept of charisma which he gave at the conference organized by the German Sociological Association on the occasion of the centenary of Max Weber’s birth. Starting from the discussion of this peculiar text the papers underline the eliasian position respect to the very famous weberian category. The Eliasian key thought is revealed in all its heuristic potentiality because of its ability to stimulate - in a processual way - static and ideal-typical patterns of analysis. The paper is articulated in three main points. The first concerns the leadership and the role it can play, not only as a source of change but also as a mechanism of social reproduction. Elias purifies the concept of charisma from its metaphysically magical and irrational components - emphasizing the mechanisms of institutionalization of the revolutionary force to which that concept refers - showing the dynamics of construction, protection and waterproofing of the boundaries of power groups made possible by the action of the leader and his followers. The second point concerns the processes of stigmatization and labeling that «crystallize» the system of inequalities, giving them an ideological appearance of normality and incontrovertibility.The third point concerns the contribute to the development of a thought capable of going beyond traditional conceptual dichotomies. The discussion on charisma and inequalities allow us to merge rational and emotional, individual and collective, natural and social aspects of social life in the way how practically they are revealed and can be studied.