Proximal Authority: Towards a Theory of How Favoritism and Gender Shape Authority

The project takes as its starting point that we will overlook many examples of women’s authority if we expect it always to look like that of men.

Women are in minority among primary religious leaders and founders, and are more often found in positions of secondary leadership.

From royal favorites to pastors’ wives, there are countless examples of how the (often female) friend or loved one of a religious or political leader has enacted a considerable yet precarious, secondary authority. This project is the first systematic, comparative study of how authority is shaped by such "favoritism".

Conducting a comparative, gendered analysis of the changing roles of three female "favorites" of male religious leaders, the purpose of the project is to generate empirical knowledge and a novel theoretical framework for understanding how favoritism enables and conditions authority.

The project will advance interdisciplinary understandings of how authority is enacted, as well as women's opportunities for authority, in different contexts.

Further, by taking seriously favoritism as a factor in shaping women’s authority, the project will offer a novel way of thinking about women's roles in religions.

Cases are drawn from three different, emerging religions in the 20th century: Neopagan Wicca; The Family, a messianic Christian movement; and the neo-Tantric Rajneesh movement. Sources consist of letters, ritual scripts, biographical and membership publications from the movements.