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Book Details
Abstract
The Anthem Companion to Max Weber is a study of the ideas and career of the German sociologist and founder of classical social theory. Including contributions by accomplished Weber scholars, this companion provides the latest scholarly interpretations of the sociologist’s vast body of socioeconomic and political writings which continue to inspire new scholarship and debate on global politics, comparative religion, social class relationships, social science methods and law and society. This book serves as a handy introduction for beginners and a tidy commentary for advanced scholars.
Alan Sica is professor of sociology and founding director of the Social Thought Program at Pennsylvania State University. Former editor of the journals Sociological Theory and Contemporary Sociology, he has written and edited several books on social theory, particularly on Max Weber. Sica has taught at Amherst College and at the universities of Kansas, Chicago, California/Riverside and Pennsylvania.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover | Cover1 | ||
| Front Matter | i | ||
| Half-title | i | ||
| Series information | ii | ||
| Title page | iii | ||
| Copyright information | iv | ||
| Table of contents | v | ||
| Chapter (1-11) | 1 | ||
| 1. Max Weber Invents Himself | 1 | ||
| The Budding Classicist | 1 | ||
| The Looming Family Friend | 2 | ||
| Weber Probes Roman Surveying Techniques | 9 | ||
| References | 24 | ||
| 2. Weber’s Dissertation and Habilitation | 27 | ||
| Introduction | 27 | ||
| Weber’s Studies: Scholarly Contexts and Main Arguments | 28 | ||
| Sociological Elements in Weber’s Early Studies | 33 | ||
| Embeddedness of human action, interdependence of social spheres and the comparative method | 33 | ||
| “Sociogenetic explanation” and consideration \nof human interests | 34 | ||
| Capitalism(s) | 35 | ||
| Ideal-typical method | 37 | ||
| Vergemeinschaftung-Vergesellschaftung | 39 | ||
| References | 42 | ||
| 3. Max Weber and the “Agrarian Crisis” 1892–1902 | 45 | ||
| Introduction | 45 | ||
| The Prussian Agrarian Crisis and the \nVerein für Socialpolitik | 47 | ||
| Weber’s Scholarly Studies and His Political Conclusions, 1892–1895 | 51 | ||
| Weber and Some Political Consequences, 1894–1897 | 57 | ||
| Heidelberg and an Infirm Epilogue, 1898–1902 | 61 | ||
| Concluding Remarks | 62 | ||
| References | 63 | ||
| 4. Charisma and the Spirit of Capitalism | 67 | ||
| Fire and Water | 68 | ||
| The Globalization of Charisma | 71 | ||
| The “Spirit” of Capitalism . . . and Charisma? | 73 | ||
| Charisma and Discipleship | 75 | ||
| Discipleship and Discipline | 79 | ||
| The Sacred Lottery | 80 | ||
| The Sectarian Moment | 84 | ||
| Charisma vs. Charisma | 86 | ||
| “Entzauberung der Welt” | 88 | ||
| Magic’s Empire | 91 | ||
| Geist of Capitalism or Profit Motive? | 94 | ||
| The Underwhelming Magic of “Personal Charisma” | 98 | ||
| The Taiping Rebellion and Revolutionary Charisma | 103 | ||
| Ascetic Charisma | 106 | ||
| References | 112 | ||
| 5. Max Weber’s Sociology of Civilizations: A Preliminary Investigation into Its Major Methodological Concepts | 117 | ||
| Weber’s Opposition to Organicism | 119 | ||
| The Centrality of Subjective Meaning | 121 | ||
| Multi-causality I: “No Resting Place” | 124 | ||
| Multi-causality II: Societal Domains | 126 | ||
| Multi-causality III: The Embeddedness of Social Action in Contexts of Social Action and Weber’s Verstehende Sociology | 128 | ||
| Multi-causality IV: The Tight Linking of the \nPast with the Present | 132 | ||
| Social carriers and the caput mortuum linkages \nof the past with the present | 136 | ||
| Conclusion | 138 | ||
| References | 140 | ||
| 6. Weber’s Foray into Geopolitics | 145 | ||
| The Heidelberg Background | 146 | ||
| Mitteleuropa | 153 | ||
| The Background to Versailles | 158 | ||
| The German Reply | 161 | ||
| What Does This Tell Us New About Weber? | 172 | ||
| 7. Max Weber in the United States | 175 | ||
| Institutionalizing Weber | 177 | ||
| The Émigrés’ Weber | 180 | ||
| Elective Affinities | 184 | ||
| The Postwar Weber | 188 | ||
| Conclusion | 192 | ||
| Appendix | 193 | ||
| 8. Max Weber on Russia’s Long Road to Modernity | 195 | ||
| Bibliography | 205 | ||
| 9. The Religion of China and the Prospects of Chinese Capitalism | 207 | ||
| Introduction | 207 | ||
| Confucianism Revealed | 208 | ||
| The Dual Constitution of The Religion of China | 212 | ||
| The Religious Argument Simplex | 214 | ||
| Confucianism Redux | 217 | ||
| Institutions with Chinese Characteristics | 220 | ||
| Conclusion | 225 | ||
| References | 227 | ||
| 10. Politics without Magic: Max Weber in Weimar Germany | 231 | ||
| Introduction | 231 | ||
| Politics and Interests | 235 | ||
| Politics and Faith | 244 | ||
| Conclusion | 250 | ||
| Works Cited | 252 | ||
| 11 The Relevance of Max Weber for Political Theory Today | 257 | ||
| The Weber Revival(s) | 258 | ||
| Bibliography | 279 | ||
| End Matter | 283 | ||
| Contributors | 283 | ||
| Index | 287 |