| dc.description.abstract | This thesis aims to develop the ‘emotional entrepreneurism’ (EE) theory using Ayatollah Sistani as a case study. The tentative theoretical paradigm seeks to capture the process by which charismatic authority is built, protected, and operationalised in mobilisation contexts, as well as the ‘interrelationship’ between a leader’s framing, followers’ emotional reactions, and the intended form of political action. To do this, in 2022, 40 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Ayatollah Sistani’s followers and networks, and seminary and academic personalities in Najaf, Karbala, and Kufa. The Ayatollah’s charismatic authority is understood as an ‘affective bond’ his followers have with him, premised on their recognition of him as a symbol of legitimacy, hope, and authenticity. The combination of these perceptions become the cognitive basis of their emotional willingness to answer his calls to action based upon the absolute trust they have in his judgements. To capture the aforementioned ‘interrelationship’, this thesis firstly assesses the ontological and functional nature of the emotions that Sistani’s motivational discourse stimulated in a variety of differing mobilisation instances he was involved in (i.e. voting, demonstrations, and armed jihad). Thereafter, a comparative analysis is undertaken of the thesis’s collective action examples to uncover the variables that can help explain Sistani’s framing-language decision-making in different political action contexts. These variables are target audience, risk, priority, and method of mobilisation (i.e. violent or nonviolent). The thesis subsequently ends with a summarised account of the proposed EE theoretical paradigm by providing working definitions for the theory itself, and the concepts that are developed throughout this research. This is to make more accessible the redeployment and development of EE, or some of its individual concepts, for future research on political leaders in the Middle East and beyond. | en_GB |
