DISENCHANTED CHARISMA: ON THE COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN CHARISMATIC LEGITIMACY AND MODERN DISENCHANTED SOCIETY

Abstract

Drawing on Max Weber’s idea of disenchantment and the concept of charismatic legitimacy, this article examines a paradox: charismatic legitimacy persists in modern, disenchanted societies even though disenchantment should erode the passionate emotional loyalty that makes such legitimacy possible. Using Carl Schmitt’s distinction between friends and enemies as a central framework, the argument states that charismatic legitimacy can be compatible with disenchanted societies by deliberately creating common enemies. By establishing an opposing "enemy," in-group solidarity is promoted, and followers' emotional devotion to the charismatic leader is strengthened. This process works whether or not the enemies represent real-world threats or are mainly narrative in nature. The paper illustrates this dynamic through two political case studies: Nayib Bukele in El Salvador and Javier Milei in Argentina. The same friend-enemy mechanism also operates in fan culture, where celebrities and key opinion leaders within the fan community invent adversaries to maintain their idols' charismatic legitimacy. Yet this kind of charisma, which depends so much on an image of an enemy, is inherently weak. When the adversarial narrative disappears, the legitimacy breaks down. Thus, charisma based on creating enemies cannot provide long-term stable rule in Weberian, disenchanted modern societies.