Validating Prophethood: Audiovisual Media and Religious Authority in Kenyan Pentecostalism
In this article, we propose a conceptual framework for a systematic analysis of processes of "authorization" by which religious leaders gain authority and recognition, both in the eyes of their followers and of a broader public. Our analysis starts from the assumption that if we wish to un...
| Published in: | Research in the social scientific study of religion |
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| Authors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2022
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| In: |
Research in the social scientific study of religion
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| Further subjects: | B
History of religion studies
B Religious sociology B Social sciences B Religionspsycholigie B Religionswissenschaften B Religion & Gesellschaft B Vergleichende Religionswissenschaft & Religionswissenschaft |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In this article, we propose a conceptual framework for a systematic analysis of processes of "authorization" by which religious leaders gain authority and recognition, both in the eyes of their followers and of a broader public. Our analysis starts from the assumption that if we wish to understand the role of media technologies in the process by which followers confer religious authority to a leader, we need to consider the material and social conditions that inform followers’ daily experiences and judgments. Max Weber famously already made this point when writing about the social conditions under which charismatic authority often emerges. Yet, rather than distinguish between different types of authority according to the arguments and modes of authorization, as proposed by Weber in his seminal typology, we maintain that each type of personal authority is generated through the interplay between, and differential weight of, the different, argumentative, choreographic and aesthetic-sensory dimensions of authorization. For illustration, we examine mass-mediated constructions of religious authority in Africa by drawing on a case study of a highly successful Neo-Pentecostal church in Kenya, the Ministry of Repentance and Holiness (MRH), and his leader, Prophet Dr. David Owuor. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Research in the social scientific study of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/9789004505315_029 |