Max Weber (1864-1920)
studied the characteristics
of modern life
Saw the modern world in terms of
• rational achievements
• the loss of the human spirit
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Rationalization –
An increasing, long-range
tendency in all areas of life
to replace the mystical, the subjective,
and the sentimental
with the logical, the objective,
and the scientific.
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Rationalization (examples)
• greater value on rational
thinking than on intuition
• higher salaries of scientists,
in contrast to artists
• structure of modern organizations
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Bureaucracy
−prime example of
rationalization
A form of social structure
that aims to use
people and resources
rationally and efficiently
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Bureaucracy
• Specialization of tasks
and division of labor
• Formal system of rules/procedures
• Written documentation kept in files
• Clearly defined structure of
authority (hierarchy)
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Bureaucracy
• Specialized administrative
staff (maintains records
and communication)
• Impersonal orientation toward
clients and employees
• Career employment
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Research Methodology –
• Social sciences are different
from the natural sciences
• study human beings, not objects
• require their own method
• May be pursued with passion
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Research Methodology –
Verstehen (“to understand”)
• Sympathetic understanding
• Viewing a situation from the
viewpoint of the actor within it
• Subjective approach, but rational
and systematic
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Differed from Durkheim
• Less concerned with
objectivity than with
understanding the meaning
of social phenomena to the
individuals experiencing them
• Greater emphasis on viewing social
structures historically than on
examining their present functions
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Differed from Marx
• Emphasized the role of ideas
in generating social structures
(Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism)
• Saw social class as one kind of
inequality, in addition to status and
power
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Class
− an economic category
− related to life chances
− determined by market factors
Power
− Ability to get one’s way with
others, even against their will
− May be determined by economics
or political party
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Status
− social honor
− different from individual
respect earned by personal
qualities
– given on the basis of position
− may be related to occupation
− may be used to explain ethnic or
racial discrimination
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Forms of Authority
• traditional
− by heredity (king)
• rational-legal
− tied to position (bureaucrat)
• charismatic
− derived from personality of leader
− emerges in a time of crisis
(economic, political, moral)
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Protestant Ethic
•
•
•
•
Demostrates how ideas derived
from a religion (Calvinism)
influenced development of an
economic system (Capitalism)
Predestination
Virtues of the elect (hard work, thrift,
honesty, punctuality, self-control)
Reinvestment of profits
Utilitarian motive
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Protestant Ethic
• emphasizes ideas
• does not exclude material
factors
• forms part of a larger sociology of
religion that includes analysis of
social class in relation to belief
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Summary –
Characteristics of Weber’s work
• A profound humanism (concern
over loss of the human spirit)
• Strong sense of history (studying
structures in process)
• Passion for knowledge – thorough
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Summary –
• theme of rationalization
• Verstehen – understanding; an
attempt to make sense of the world
• Rounding out of dialectical
materialism
– Emphasis on role of ideas
– Broader class analysis