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The concept that went viral : Using machine learning to discover charisma in the wild

Joosse, Paul and Lu, Yulin LU orcid (2025) In British Journal of Sociology 76(1). p.65-82
Abstract

The term “charisma” is recognized as sociology's most successful export to common speech. While sociologists habitually dismiss popular uses of the word, we address its vernacularity head on as a worthy object of study and as a potential resource for conceptual development. Using machine learning, we locate “charisma” within the wider discursive field out of which it arises (and continues to arise) across four corpora; namely: Weber’s major writings; social scientific research (123,531 JSTOR articles); and social media (“X”) posts containing of “charisma” (n=77,161) and its 2023 variant, “rizz” (n=85,869). By capturing meaning structures that discursively suspend “charisma” across multiple dimensions, we discern three spectra that help... (More)

The term “charisma” is recognized as sociology's most successful export to common speech. While sociologists habitually dismiss popular uses of the word, we address its vernacularity head on as a worthy object of study and as a potential resource for conceptual development. Using machine learning, we locate “charisma” within the wider discursive field out of which it arises (and continues to arise) across four corpora; namely: Weber’s major writings; social scientific research (123,531 JSTOR articles); and social media (“X”) posts containing of “charisma” (n=77,161) and its 2023 variant, “rizz” (n=85,869). By capturing meaning structures that discursively suspend “charisma” across multiple dimensions, we discern three spectra that help to distinguish charisma’s sociological and non-sociological uses. Spectrum one differentiates perspectives which see charisma as having either a structural or individual-level range of efficacy. Spectrum two differentiates indifferent/analytical perspectives on charisma from perspectives which see it as desirable but also morally conservative. Spectrum three differentiates between relational and individualized ontologies for charisma. We find that, rather than hewing closely to the Weberian formulation, social scientific uses exist in an intermediate position vis-à-vis these three spectra. Thus, scholars participate in what they otherwise criticize as charisma’s vulgarization. The article concludes with recommendations for how to constructively interact with ‘popular charisma.’.

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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
charisma, machine learning, Max Weber, power, rizz
in
British Journal of Sociology
volume
76
issue
1
pages
65 - 82
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:39276324
  • scopus:85204129415
ISSN
0007-1315
DOI
10.1111/1468-4446.13146
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). The British Journal of Sociology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of London School of Economics and Political Science.
id
a8c6def1-5e4b-42fc-af96-55e3ab71cdde
date added to LUP
2024-12-03 09:45:51
date last changed
2025-07-02 03:10:44
@article{a8c6def1-5e4b-42fc-af96-55e3ab71cdde,
  abstract     = {{<p>The term “charisma” is recognized as sociology's most successful export to common speech. While sociologists habitually dismiss popular uses of the word, we address its vernacularity head on as a worthy object of study and as a potential resource for conceptual development. Using machine learning, we locate “charisma” within the wider discursive field out of which it arises (and continues to arise) across four corpora; namely: Weber’s major writings; social scientific research (123,531 JSTOR articles); and social media (“X”) posts containing of “charisma” (n=77,161) and its 2023 variant, “rizz” (n=85,869). By capturing meaning structures that discursively suspend “charisma” across multiple dimensions, we discern three spectra that help to distinguish charisma’s sociological and non-sociological uses. Spectrum one differentiates perspectives which see charisma as having either a structural or individual-level range of efficacy. Spectrum two differentiates indifferent/analytical perspectives on charisma from perspectives which see it as desirable but also morally conservative. Spectrum three differentiates between relational and individualized ontologies for charisma. We find that, rather than hewing closely to the Weberian formulation, social scientific uses exist in an intermediate position vis-à-vis these three spectra. Thus, scholars participate in what they otherwise criticize as charisma’s vulgarization. The article concludes with recommendations for how to constructively interact with ‘popular charisma.’.</p>}},
  author       = {{Joosse, Paul and Lu, Yulin}},
  issn         = {{0007-1315}},
  keywords     = {{charisma; machine learning; Max Weber; power; rizz}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{65--82}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{British Journal of Sociology}},
  title        = {{The concept that went viral : Using machine learning to discover charisma in the wild}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13146}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/1468-4446.13146}},
  volume       = {{76}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}