Max Weber (Philosophy)

The Mediatisation and Anonymisation of the World in the Work of Max Weber

by Gilles Bastin

Max Weber Studies, 9(1), 2009, pp. 123-141

Médiatisation et anonymisation du monde chez Max Weber

by Gilles Bastin

La presse au miroir du capitalisme moderne: Un projet d'enquête de max weber sur les journaux et le journalisme

by Gilles Bastin

Weber dépasse Weber

by Gilles Bastin

Talking among Themselves? Weberian and Marxist Historical Sociologies as Dialogues without 'Others'

by Gurminder K Bhambra

Sociology’s orientation to history is based around agreement on the importance of key substantive issues concerning... more Sociology’s orientation to history is based around agreement on the importance of key substantive issues concerning the emergence of modernity and the related ‘rise of the West’, as well as agreement around a stadial idea of progressive development and the privileging of Eurocentred histories in the construction of such a framework. Within these areas of broad agreement, however, there are also key points of contestation between the strong forms of macro-sociology as embodied, in particular, by Marxist and Weberian approaches, for example, Brenner, Anderson, and Wallerstein on the one hand, and Runciman, Giddens and Mann, on the other. The sites of contestation include addressing the precise nature of the origins of capitalism, the importance of the commercial versus the agrarian mode of production in the transition to capitalism, or arguments about how later developing countries might accommodate forms of modernity already established, for example, as in the multiple modernities debates. What these debates all have in common is that they can be carried out in the context of a standard framework of comparative sociology, a framework that I will argue is unable to address the issues raised by the turn to postcolonial studies and global history.

Max Weber and the 'Faustian Universality of Man'

by Adrian Wilding

2010 “Statecraft in the Global Financial Crisis: An Interview with Kanishka Jayasuriya,” Journal of Critical Globalisation Studies. No. 3, P. 127-138.

by Jeb Sprague

Kanishka Jayasuriya, Professor of Political Science at the University of Adelaide, Australia and author of two... more Kanishka Jayasuriya, Professor of Political Science at the University of Adelaide, Australia and author of two monographs  – Reconstituting the Global Liberal Order: Legitimacy and Regulation (2005) and Statecraft, Welfare and the Politics of Inclusion (2006) – argues that changing forms of governance and new regulative laws are enabling the transnationalization of institutions within national states. He also interprets these
changes as giving rise to a new type of institutional struggle unique to globalisation. For social scientists in general and political economists in particular, Jayasuriya’s work
provides a useful lens through which to understand intra-state transformation in the global epoch. By rejecting Realist/Weberian conceptions of the state and drawing inspiration instead from materialist state theory, he understands state transformation as a reflection of ongoing processes linked to socio-economic forces that are novel to the historical present. And in the wake of the global financial crisis, he argues, we should not see the state as either disappearing or returning, for it is continuing to transform in ways peculiar to the age of globalism. The real question is for whom states will act in the future. In order to answer this, Jayasuriya suggests that we must look to transformations occurring within the national state, for it is these that are changing statecraft as we know it.

In this interview, Jayasuriya discusses some of his main concepts and theories, such as the regulatory state; meta-governance; the transition from ‘social constitutionalism’ to ‘economic constitutionalism’; and describes how each of these
relate to the ongoing crisis of global capitalism. He clarifies his views on the idea of a transnational capitalist class, arguing that there must be “different fractions within it”; and goes on to discuss the connection of his theories on state-transformation with the related works of William Robinson and Martin Shaw. Finally, he discusses some of the theorists that have influenced his work – such as Nicos Poulantzas, Carl Schmitt, Franz Neumann, and Amartya Sen – and briefly describes his areas of ongoing research.

“Politische Führung in der Diktatur“ Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, 2-3/ 2010 (11 January 2010) 40-46.

by Jan C. Behrends

Max Weber's Protestant Ethic: Do Protestants Work More?

by Uzair Mughal

"This paper uses a 1975-76 Time Use Study to explore Max Weber’s claim that Protestants work more than... more "This paper uses a 1975-76 Time Use Study to explore Max Weber’s claim that Protestants work more than non-Protestants holds true in the given dataset. We used the data available from four days of time diaries kept by 1519 households which had details like total work time, sleep time and whether Protestant or not. Our tests show that Weber’s famed “Protestant Ethic” holds true in this case. There is a positive correlation between Protestantism and total work time, which is economically and statistically significant."

Between Faith and Science: World Culture Theory and Comparative Education

by Iveta Silova

with Steve Carney and Jeremy Rappleye

World culture theory seeks to explain an apparent convergence of education through a neoinstitutionalist lens, seeing... more World culture theory seeks to explain an apparent convergence of education through a neoinstitutionalist lens, seeing global rationalization in education as driven by the logic of science and the myth of progress. While critics have challenged these assumptions by focusing on local manifestations of world-level tendencies, such critique is comfortably accommodated within world culture theory. We approach the debate from a fresh perspective by examining its ideological foundations. We also highlight its shift from notions of myth and enactment toward advocacy for particular models, and we show that world culture theory can become normative, while obscuring our view of policy convergence. Finally, we critique the methods and evidence in world culture research. We argue that such research, while failing to support its own claims, actually produces world culture, as its assumptions and parameters create the very image of consensus and homogeneity that world culture theorists expect scholars to accept—in faith—as empirically grounded.

Le management au secours de services publics? Modernisation de l’Etat et régimes de domination à l’heure de la Révision générale des politiques publiques (RGPP) – 2007-2012.

by Fabien Gélédan

Forthcoming

Cet article puise dans les données issues d'une recherche ethnographique de presque trois ans à la Direction générale... more Cet article puise dans les données issues d'une recherche ethnographique de presque trois ans à la Direction générale de la modernisation de l'Etat (DGME) et en services déconcentrés (préfectures, tribunaux). Il vise à identifier et caractériser les régimes de domination, notamment managériaux, à l'oeuvre dans la conduite de la RGPP.

De Bentham à Foucault: Autour du Panoptique (1)

by Anne Brunon-Ernst

Habilitation thesis (full text)

Weber and Schutz on Human Action (CZ)

by Petr Špecián

ŠPECIÁN, Petr. Weber a Schütz o lidském jednání. E-logos – Electronic Journal for Philosophy [online], 2011, roč. 17, č. 14. 19 s. ISSN 1211-0442.

The article approaches the methodological component of the theory of human action which was developed in the frame of... more The article approaches the methodological component of the theory of human action which was developed in the frame of Weber’s sociology of Verstehen and further transformed in the phenomenological sociology of Alfred Schütz. The central problem of the analysis is how both authors try to solve the problem of interpretation of action from the point of view of the (scientific) observer and the agent himself. Although his effort to stay in touch with the psychological reality of action is obvious, it seems that Weber always readily takes the position of scientific observer. Schütz tries to develop a sounder foundation of the Weberian approach and shows how the point of view of a disinterested observer emerges from the paramount (naďve) reality of the Lebenswelt. Both authors discuss the question of rationality in action and conclude that the rationality (defined through logical consistency and empirical efficiency of action) is not a feature of “real-life” action as much as a norm for scientific description and scientific process itself. The present argument is developed on a background of the contemplation of the notion of rationality in contemporary economic theory and of the role of introspection.

Revolutionary Ambition in an Age of Austerity: An Interview with Neil Smith

by David Hugill

Published in Upping the Anti: A Journal of Theory and Action, #13, 2011

Patrimonialism and neopatrimonialism: comparative trajectories and readings

by Daniel Bach

Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, 49(3) (July 2011), p. 275-294.
The article is one of the ten articles (two from each decade) included in the Golden Anniversary Virtual Issue of CCP . Can be downloaded through the link below

There is a striking contrast between the dissemination of the concept of neopatrimonial rule in Africa and its more... more There is a striking contrast between the dissemination of the concept of neopatrimonial rule in Africa and its more parsimonious mobilisation outside the continent. The increasing assimilation of the African neopatrimonial state to integral and predatory forms of politics has contributed to its perception as a global prototype of the ‘antidevelopmental’ state. The article contrasts this trajectory with those observed in Latin America, South East Asia, Russia and Central Asia. There, patrimonialism and neopatrimonialism have been associated with
a greater axiological neutrality than in Africa due, inter alia, to the
preservation of an analytical dichotomy between regulated and predatory forms of neopatrimonialism. Neglected for all too long, the study of regulated forms of neopatrimonialism in Africa calls for fresh empirical and theoretical attention.

Classes and nations in recent historical sociology

by Daniel Chernilo

Classical Sociology and the Nation-State

by Daniel Chernilo

Miduri, M.C. 2009. 'Il "disincanto del mondo". La scomparsa del Sacro nella prima età moderna'

by Maria Chiara Miduri

Honors Essay written for MA course in Modern History & History of Modern Political Thought, University of Turin. citation: Miduri, M.C. 2009. 'Il "disincanto del mondo". La scomparsa del Sacro nella prima età moderna', Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, Università degli Studi di Torino, A.A. 2008-2009, ms.

A Quest for Universalism

by Daniel Chernilo

On the relationships between social theory and natural law: lessons from Karl Löwith and Leo Strauss

by Daniel Chernilo