What is it about?

This work engages in an extensive fieldwork ethnography to study why Ayatollah Sistani is seen as someone worthy of charismatic 'absolute trust'. Further, it studies how this trust has an emotional effect on Sistani's followers wherein they feel a strong willingness to comply his calls to action, be them calls to vote, protest, or enact armed jihad against ISIS.

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Why is it important?

This work puts forward a new conceptual framework to understand charismatic authority through the 'affective bond' concept. I hope for this new term to be used to de-mystify the charisma of other religious and political leaders globally, such as Donald Trump, Muqtada al-Sadr, Reccep Tayyip Erdogan, Javier Milei, and others.

Perspectives

I aim for this article to be a starting point for a revolution in how researchers understand and investigate the charisma of leaders all around the world.

Dr. Ali Alsayegh
University of Exeter

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This page is a summary of: The content of Ayatollah Sistani’s charismatic authority: the affective bond, Antropolítica - Revista Contemporânea de Antropologia, December 2024, Pro Reitoria de Pesquisa, Pos Graduacao e Inovacao - UFF,
DOI: 10.22409/antropolitica2024.v56.i3.a61528.
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