James Victor Downton, Jr. (born December 11, 1938, Glendale, California

Glendale, California

Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...

, also known as Jim Downton) is a sociologist known for his research on charismatic leadership, activism, and new religious movements. He received his PhD. from the University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

 in 1968 with his thesis, Rebel leadership: revisiting the concept of charisma, a subject he developed more fully in his 1973 book, Rebel Leadership: Commitment and Charisma in the Revolutionary Process. He was the first to coin the term "Transformational leadership

Transformational leadership

Transformational leadership is defined as a leadership approach that causes change in individuals and social systems. In its ideal form, it creates valuable and positive change in the followers with the end goal of developing followers into leaders...

", a concept further developed by James MacGregor Burns

James MacGregor Burns

James MacGregor Burns is an historian and political scientist, presidential biographer, and authority on leadership studies. He is the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Government Emeritus at Williams College and Distinguished Leadership Scholar at the of the School of Public Policy at the University...

, and one of the key concepts in leadership research over the past 25 years.

In 1982 Downton was a panel member of the Institute of Behavioral Science (Theda Skocpol

Theda Skocpol

Theda Skocpol is an American sociologist and political scientist at Harvard University. She served from 2005 to 2007 as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She is influential in sociology as an advocate of the historical-institutional and comparative approaches, and well-known in...

 States and Social Revolutions). In 1997 Downton was a reviewer for the American Sociological Review

American Sociological Review

The American Sociological Review is a bimonthly, peer-reviewed academic journal covering all aspects of sociology, including new theoretical developments, results of research that advance the understanding of fundamental social processes, and methodological innovations. It is published by SAGE...

.

He taught for many years at the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Colorado at Boulder

University of Colorado at Boulder

The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...

, where he is now Professor Emeritus of Sociology. In 1996, Downton received the Boulder Faculty Assembly Teaching Excellence Award. He was also one of the founders and Director of the university's International and National Voluntary Service Training program (INVST). Following his retirement in 2004, the university established the Jim Downton Scholarship, awarded to two students each year in the Community Leadership Program.

Selected bibliography

Books

• Sacred journeys: The conversion of young Americans to Divine Light Mission
  Sacred Journeys (book)
  Sacred Journeys: The Conversion of Young Americans to Divine Light Mission is a sociological book about the adherents of the Divine Light Mission in the 1970s. In the work, author James V. Downton, Jr...
  
  (1979) Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04198-5
• Perspectives on Political Philosophy with David K Hart (Eds.), Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.; Volume II edition (1971), ISBN 0-03081-405-7
  • Perspectives on Political Philosophy Volume I: Thucydides through Machiavelli
  • Perspectives on Political Philosophy Volume II: Machiavelli to Marx
  • Perspectives on Political Philoshopy. Vol. III: Marx Through Marcuse ,
• Rebel Leadership: Commitment and Charisma in the Revolutionary Process, Macmillan Pub Co (January 1973), ISBN 0-02907-560-2
• The Persistent Activist: How Peace Commitment Develops and Survives, with Paul Ernest Wehr, Westview, (January 1997), ISBN 0-81338-139-8
• The Woo Way: A New Way of Living and Being (2003), Humanics Publishing Group, ISBN 0893343498
• Playful Mind: Bringing Creativity to Life (2003), Humanics Publishing Group, ISBN 0893343587
• Awakening Minds: The Power of Creativity in Teaching (2003), Humanics Publishing Group, ISBN 0893343617
• Blooming: Teaching of a Woo Master(2005), Humanics Publishing Group, ISBN
• Why Am I So DAMN Unhappy?: And What to Do About It (2008) Robert Reed Publisher, ISBN 1934759023
• Today, I will . . .Words to Inspire Life Changes, (2009) Blue Mountain Arts, ISBN9781598424249

Articles

• Individuation and Shamanism, The Journal of Analytical Psychology, 1989
• Peace Movements: The Role of Commitment and Community in Sustaining Member Participation, Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 35, No. 5, 531-550 (1998) DOI 10.1177/0022343398035005001
• An Evolutionary Theory of Spiritual Conversion and Commitment: The Case of Divine Light Mission, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Dec., 1980), pp. 381-396, Blackwell Publishing
  Blackwell Publishing
  Wiley-Blackwell is the international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley's Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publishing, after Wiley took over Blackwell Publishing in...
  
  
• Determinants of Commitment, Humanitas, Vol 8 (Feb. 1972) pp. 57-78

External links

• James Downton faculty page, University of Colorado at Boulder.
• 'Faculty Focus on Jim Downton', Buffalo News Chips, Issue 4, Spring 2004, p. 2
• Personal website