Re: rn,wsn> Laurence Cox re: theory & praxis

Effective leadership is important, but I don't believe any of the examples
provided are examples of charismatic leadership.  The organizations
presented are all mainstream lobbying organizations, fully routinized and
bureaucratized.

To specifics -- Ralph Reed is anything but charismatic.  He is apparently
quite capable, but split with the Christian Coalition because he was more
centrist and pragmatic than they wanted, anything but a firebreathing
charismatic.

When it comes to the environmental movement, there are definitely
charismatic leaders -- David Brower, who just passed on, is a great
example.  He led the Sierra Club, then Friends of the Earth, and then the
Earth Island Institute, continually challenging the bureaucratic
organizations he helped create, and moving on bringing followers attracted
to him as a person (the definition of charisma) rather than an
organization.

The lack of success of the environmental movement has more to do with the
enormity of its target (industrial capitalism) than a lack of charismatic
leaders.  (And on the other hand, anyone who remembers the air and water
pollution of the 1960s, before modern environmental legislation, knows
that there have been solid accomplishments, even if not nearly enough.)

Richard Hutchinson
Asst. Prof of Sociology
Weber State University
Ogden, Utah