About the Book
This volume clearly communicates that Weber’s influence is of great significance to the history of social science, and to appreciating the theoretical work of other social scientists in the modern age. Its insightful and timely publication comprises topical and innovative work discussing Weber in a range of historical and contemporary questions including: the controversy surrounding the Da Vinci code; the charismatic role of martyrs; the nuclear weapons strategy in a post-cold-war age and the affinity between Hindu belief systems and disenchanted computer science.
Max Weber Matters illustrates the multidisciplinary and continued relevance of Weber’s work and will be of interest to scholars across a range of disciplines, including historians, sociologists, political scientists and social theorists.
Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface; Introduction: interweaving past and present, David J. Chalcraft; Part 1 Setting the Scene: Why hermeneutics, the text(s) and the biography of the work matter in Max Weber studies, David J. Chalcraft; Reminiscences of the Weber centenary 1964, its prehistory and aftermath: lessons in academic politics, Guenther Roth. Part 2 Philosophical Dialogues: Philosophy beyond the bounds of reason: the influence of Max Weber on the development of Karl Jasper's Existenzphilosophie, 1909–1932, Joshua Derman; Merleau-Ponty's use of the Weberian example: avoiding totalizing meanings in history, Ritchie Savage; Adorno's paradox Weber's constructionism: scrutinizing theory and method, Fanon John Howell; The elusiveness of meaning: from Max Weber to Jürgem Habermas, Maria Victoria Crespo. Part 3 Theorizing Rationality and Processes of Rationalization: Blind spot? Weber's concept of expertise and the perplexing case of China, Stephen P. Turner; Economic rationalization, money and measures: a Weberian perspective, Hector Vera; Applied science and rationalized Hinduism – an elective affinity?, Richard Cimino; Rationality and nuclear weapons: Weber's pertinence in the post-annihilatory age, Brian C. Batholomew. Part 4 The Culture of Capitalism: Past and Present: The acquisitive machine: Max Weber, Thordstein Veblen, and the culture of consumptive individualism, Graham Cassano; Vergesellschaftung and Berufsmenschentum: Max Weber on religion and rationalism in the Middle Ages, Lutz Kaelber; Beyond the Protestant ethic: culture, subjectivity and instrumental labor, Richard Lloyd. Part 5 Studies in the Sociology of Legitimacy: The leadership of the dead: notes towards a Weberian analysis of charisma in narratives of martyrdom, Marisol Lopez Menendez; The Da Vinci Code: ecclesial governance and Max Weber's ideal types of authority, James H. Mahon; Weber's rational-legal model of legitimation and the police in London and New York City, 1830–1870, Wilbur R. Miller. Part 6 Consciousness, History, Relativism and Interweaving of Past and Present: The perpetual and tight interweaving of past and present in Max Weber's sociology, Stephen Kalberg; Temporality and the value of facts in Max Weber's critical social science, Robert M. Slammon; Weber and the Straussian charge of relativism, Ahmad Sadri and Mahmoud Sadri; Index.
About the Author :
David Chalcraft is Professor of Classical Sociology at the University of Derby, UK.
David J. Chalcraft, Guenther Roth, Joshua Derman, Ritchie Savage, Fanon John Howell, Maria Victoria Crespo, Stephen P. Turner, Hector Vera, Richard Cimino, Brian C. Batholomew, Thordstein Veblen, Graham Cassano, Lutz Kaelber, Richard Lloyd, Marisol Lopez Menendez, James H. Mahon, Wilbur R. Miller, Stephen Kalberg, Robert M. Slammon, Ahmad Sadri, Mahmoud Sadri.
Review :
'The centrality of Weber for contemporary sociologists in a myriad of areas...The editors have brought together not only senior specialists but also a group of new scholars whose vigorous application to contemporary issues testifies why indeed "Weber matters" in "interweaving past and present".'
'The centrality of Weber for contemporary sociologists in a myriad of areas...The editors have brought together not only senior specialists but also a group of new scholars whose vigorous application to contemporary issues testifies why indeed “Weber matters” in “interweaving past and present”.'
Edward A. Tiryakian, Duke University, USA
'This diverse set of stimulating essays covering major themes in sociology – rationality, legitimacy, cultures of capitalism and historical consciousness – demonstrates over again the continuing importance of Max Weber to the modern world. Weber matters substantively because he provides a critical perspective on modernity. Erudite and original but also accessible, Max Weber Matters is a major contribution to Weber studies.'
Bryan S. Turner, Wellesley College, USA
'... the book does indeed point to various ways in which `Weber matters’ continue to matter to specialists...'
British Journal of Sociology
