The Oneida Community and the Instability of Charismatic Authority

• Published in: The Journal of American history (Bloomington, Ind.) Ind.), 1980-09, Vol.67 (2), p.285-300
• Main Author: Olin, Spencer C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Authority/Authorities/Authoritative; Bible; CHARISMA; Charisma/Charismatic; CHURCH, SECT, RELIGIOUS GROUP; Commune/Communes/Communal/ Communalism/ Communality; Communism; Communitarianism; Communities; CONCEPT OF AUTHORITY; LEADERSHIP; MAX WEBER; Men; POLITICAL THEORY; Socialism; Socialist/Socialistic (see also Socialism); Theology; United States history; Utopia/Utopias/Utopian/ Utopianism; Utopian socialism
• ISSN: 0021-8723; 1945-2314; 1936-0967
• DOI: 10.2307/1890409

A new explanation is offered for the breakup of the Oneida Community, founded in NY in 1848, in many ways the most radical social & sexual experiment in US history. That breakup can best be understood as a collapse of legitimate authority in terms of the social theory set forth by Max Weber. Weber's analysis of the bases of authority in social groups -- traditional, charismatic, & legal-rational -- is of particular help in explaining the corrosive effect on community harmony of an intensely partisan dispute between followers of the community's founder & charismatic leader, John Humphrey Noyes, & a rival contingent, the Townerites. Using primary materials from the Oneida Community Historical Collection (including private letters, diaries, & community records), as well as secondary books & articles, internal factors responsible for the demise of this utopian socialist experiment are analyzed. Rejecting prevailing interpretations based on notions of external pressure or diminishing religious fervor & generational conflict within the community, stressed instead is a fractionating internal debate over issues of authority & power in the governance of the Oneida communards -- a debate centered on an irreconcilable conflict over legitimate domination, with the charismatic Noyes basing his authority on the "rule of grace" & the legalistic James W. Towner seeking to introduce the "rule of law." The Oneida Community began to rip apart when Noyes tried unsuccessfully to transfer his charismatic authority to his son. Due to an inability to "routinize" charisma, & an absence of appropriate political means to deal effectively with genuine disagreements over behavior & governance, relatively benign issues assumed destructive proportions; the Oneida Community failed because of the unsuccessful transformation of a charismatic community into one based on the authority of legal domination. Modified AA.