Charm: How Magnetic Personalities Shape Global Politics

by Julia Sonnevend

The utilization—and weaponization—of charm in contemporary global politicsPolitics is a site of performance, and contemporary politicians often perform the role of a regular person—perhaps someone we would like to have a beer with. They win elections not because of the elevated rhetorical performances we often associate with charisma (“ask not what your country can do for you”), but because of something more ordinary and relatable. The everyday magic spell that politicians cast using mass and social media is what sociologist Julia Sonnevend calls “charm.” In this engaging and enlightening book, Sonnevend explores charm (and the related “charm offensive”) as a keyword of contemporary global politics. Successful political leaders deploy this form of personal magnetism—which relies on proximity to political tribes and manifests across a variety of media platforms—to appear authentic and accessible in their quest for power.Sonnevend examines the mediated self-representations of a set of liberal, illiberal, and authoritarian political New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Iran’s Mohammad Javad Zarif, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, and Germany’s Angela Merkel. She considers the ways each wields charm (or the lack of it) as a political tool, and how they weaponize their charm to shape their countries’ international image, hoping to influence decisions about military aid, trade, and even tourism. Sonnevend argues that charm will shape the future of democracy worldwide, as political values will be increasingly embodied by mediated personalities. These figures will rise and fall, often fading into irrelevance; but if we do not understand charm’s political power, we cannot grasp today’s fragile political moment.

Genres: Sociology

208 pages, Hardcover

Published August 20, 2024

Reviews

[sasha rojer · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Charm: How Magnetic Personalities Shape Global Politics" is a fascinating deep dive into the unique strategies of charm utilized by politicians. Honestly, I was not expecting the book to delve so deeply into social media data, such as Instagram numbers and Facebook live analysis. But I can assure you that I was not disappointed to learn about the underbelly of the convoluted world of social media.

One concept that stood out to me was the idea of "fusion" between the audience and the politician. This is when a politician becomes a vessel for its constituents. The audience sees themselves in the leader; because of this, the audience will trust and defend them. I simply loved this concept of fusion, as it accurately summarized this mysterious feeling that follows a charismatic politician, musician, or artist. It also resonated with me as to why the Democratic party splintered during the 2024 election: Kamala Harris was unable to "fuse" with her audience. As the newly minted nominee, Harris attempted (and failed) to appease and placate a frustrated, disillusioned base. They didn't want to be placated - they wanted their confusion, fear, and betrayal to be validated. But for a candidate to do that, they must admit their own party's failings and flaws, which run deeper than any one person can represent. But unfortunately, by taking on the mantle of the Democratic nominee, Harris transformed from a person to this representation of dissatisfaction. Positive "fusion" with her audience was untenable. Instead, she was fused with the growing resentment and bitterness of a fracturing party. I feel like this book finally gave me the words to analyze what occurred during the 2024 presidential election.

This book was enlightening. Sonnevend's prose flows with a graceful style of communication that worked perfectly for my mind. I was hooked! I loved how she summarized her primary points at the beginning and end of every chapter, and ended the book with insightful and creative questions. I felt as if I was sitting in on a lecture, complete with a very nicely organized syllabus. I so enjoyed her observations that I had to share them with my sister across the room. Overall, "Charm: How Magnetic Personalities Shape Global Politics" is a meticulously researched and highly educational read.

[Bram Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

Begint sterk met interessante theorie om vervolgens 5 case studies te doen aan de hand van verschillende internationale politici. Interessant maar meer diepgang was beter geweest. (7/10)

[Jakub Dovcik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Political leadership based on perceived exceptional personal qualities and attraction has been - according to the author of this book at least - so far defined mostly through the lenses of the Weberian 'charismatic leadership'.

Julia Sonnevend, a professor at the New School of Social Research in NY, creates a novel framework for approaching this topic. Charismatic leadership (she uses the example of Charles de Gaulle) was in the traditional Weberian sense “a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities.” By contrast, what she terms as 'Charm' is a 'personal magnetism that rests on proximity to political “tribes” and manifests primarily through visual and textual communication on a variety of media platforms'. So whereas charisma is about being extraordinary, charm is about belonging to a political tribe. Charisma is about distance, charm is about proximity.

(I think that much definition is good and useful, but then there is a lot more of it that I find quite fluffy, like repeating the definition of charm as 'the ability to attract or delight as if by magic. The charming person casts a “magic spell” and makes you feel good about yourself.')

Sonnevend creates a great framework for defining how is charm manifested:
'(1) performing authenticity-when politicians adjust their performances to appear "real" and relatable to audiences;
(2) de-masking-when politicians attempt to remove their official "masks" displaying either vulnerability or strength;
(3) breaking from routine the interruption of the flow of time to create minor, substitute "pseudo-events" for the media;
(4) restaging - creating a controlled environment and space, an ideal stage where charm can particularly shine through;
(5) equalizing-when politicians present diverse audiences as a coherent community.'

Further, arguing that 'while not all charming interactions of politicians include all these techniques, they are often present in moments of mediatized political charm.' She also admits that the politicians need to have some extraordinary quality about them for the charm to be effective - they need something exciting so that with charm they can be 'superheroes' - superordinary yet ordinary.

This book and theme had a lot of potential, but I must say I was a bit disappointed by most of the book. The theoretical framework and chapters on Jacinda Ardern and Viktor Orban are great, as are some parts in the chapter about 'leadership without charm' on Angela Merkel and her social media strategy.

The chapter on Jacinda Ardern is really good. Sonnevend argues that Ardern somewhat purposely created a sense of intimacy with her electorate through a seemingly natural communication through Facebook. She projected her message of 'kindness' or 'caregiving leadership', through her 'community check-ins' on Facebook live. This caring or kind image on the domestic scene was contrasted with the 'feminine strength' presented on the global scene, which contrasted with the masculinity of the first Trump presidency.

Ardern's most popular topics were the environment, health, labor, indigenous concerns, child poverty, and housing issues. But from time to time she also threw some "quotidian" events into the mix: struggle with balancing work and motherhood, organizing her paperwork, feeling exhausted, wearing a hoodie. She took pride in introducing topics that humanized her and created waves of communication. A key example was the very public discussion of her infertility and then finally achieved pregnancy.

She also designed events that would attract interest and create bonding. In a particularly famous instance, Ardern took her small baby along to her 2018 speech at the UN General Assembly. The event offered an occasion to comment on everyday aspects of motherhood (where would you change a diaper in a UN building?). Ardern not only performed as an "authentic" politician-she was strategically maneuvering to establish legitimacy through charm in form and content, especially at times when her authority was contested. Knowing that her gender and motherhood would influence her public perception, she was consciously using these qualities to preempt attacks, attract attention, and create connection. When her ability to juggle multiple public and private responsibilities was questioned, she would make sure to forefront this dilemma in her posts in an endearing and performative way, controlling the messaging from upfront.

Sonnevend effectively argues that small 'imperfections' like speaking through a hand-held (and somewhat shaking) phone is a staged attempt to seem authentic, whereas it could have just been that (as one colleague of mine who worked for Ardern always says) they just did not have enough people to do the kind of professional and polished communication that would seem unnatural (they had only 6 people in the private office, much less than a regular UK minister or any PM I know about in countries of comparable size would have) - or it was deprioritised.

The chapter on Orban is also excellent. Sonneved is from Hungary and she does an amazing job surveying the themes of his communication on Facebook - from photos with his grandchildren, at a pig slaughter, his thoughts on ordering a langos to meetings on European forums with right-wing leaders. Orban represents nation and tradition, subtly, without explicit references (like de Gaulle would). He attempts to represent the Hungarian identity:

'For the political leader’s charismatic and charming characteristics to resonate with audiences, he needs to become something of an icon of the values he wants to communicate. Icons work as symbolic condensations. (...) The image of the populist leader comes to stand for the broad set of values he aims to communicate. The political leader cannot fully represent the nation, but he comes to stand for it, just as iconic photographs cannot represent events fully, yet they come to stand for them. The iconic leader draws the
boundaries of the nation, ultimately deciding who belongs and who does not.'

Also very important is to consider what kind of Hungary Orban does not represent: 'While participating in a folk tradition, Orbán alluded to his understanding of the nation as being built on tradition, without making this reference explicit. (...) Yet, it is worth noting what he did not refer to: high culture. Hungary has a strong international reputation for art, classical music, science, mathematics, and literature, but these cultural features rarely become part of Orbán’s rendering of Hungarian tradition, perhaps because many of these high-cultural events happen in the country’s capital, Budapest, a city that remains an oppositional stronghold.'

But then there are chapters on the 'charm offensives' of the Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Kim Jong-Un, in which I was really unsure about what kind of effect the 'charm' really has (and how does that fit within the description and framework from early in the book). Besides smiles, handshakes and having multiple people in the same photo, Sonnnevend's argumentation is limited in explaining the actual effect of the charm within the specific diplomatic contexts (in Zarif's case it is even argued that a part of that charm was doing a lot of negotiation behind closed doors and then taking pictures with John Kerry, which I found rather confusing).

Overall, a very interesting argument and a couple of great chapters, but the book could be much more thorough than it eventually was. The main argument - about the importance of communication that expresses belonging to a tribe rather than some extraordinary qualities of the leader - is a useful contribution to the debate in this day and age when so many technocratically leaning centrist political forces struggle to connect with their voters.

[André · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are used to reading scientific papers you will not have a problem with the style. The book well highlights the importance of social sciences and research.