Max Weber
(1864-1920)

Max Weber (pronounced Vay-bur) has profoundly influenced the development of modern sociology. His contributions revolve around the concepts of "verstehen" (deep understanding of meaning), "rationality," "bureacracy/authority," and "capitalism". He was born into a middle-class family in Germany in 1864. His mother was a devout Calvinist who led an ascetic life, an image that was to have a lasting impact on Weber's view of social reality.

The Protestant Ethic

The Protestant ethic is embodied in Calvinism, which emphasizes material success and wealth as a "sign" of salvation. To achieve them, believers are enjoined to observe values of honesty, frugality, hard work, and the acquisition of what may be called an "ascetic personality." This personality type denies earthly pleasures, but strikingly creates a world full of materialism.

"Weber's concern with the meaning that people give to their actions allowed him to understand the drift of historical change. He believed that rational action within a system of rational-legal authority is at the heart of modern society. His sociology was first and foremost an attempt to explore and explain this shift from traditional to rational action (Aron, 1970). What was it about the West, he asks, that is causing this shift? In an effort to understand these causes, Weber examined the religious and economic systems of many civilizations.

Weber came to believe that the rationalization of action can only be realized when traditional ways of life are abandoned (Coser, 1977). Because of its erosion, modern people may have a difficult time realizing the hold of tradition over pre-industrial peoples. Weber's task was to uncover the forces in the West that caused people to abandon their traditional religious value orientation and encouraged them to develop a desire for acquiring goods and wealth (Aron, 1970; Coser, 1977).

"After careful study, Weber came to the hypothesis that the protestant ethic broke the hold of tradition while it encouraged men to apply themselves rationally to their work (Gerth and Mills, 1946). Calvinism, he found, had developed a set of beliefs around the concept of predestination. It was believed by followers of Calvin that one could not do good works or perform acts of faith to assure your place in heaven. You were either among the "elect" (in which case you were in) or you were not. However, wealth was taken as a sign (by you and your neighbors) that you were one of the God's elect, thereby providing encouragement for people to acquire wealth. The protestant ethic therefore provided religious sanctions that fostered a spirit of rigorous discipline, encouraging men to apply themselves rationally to acquire wealth (Aron, 1970; Coser, 1977). (From: http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/%7Efelwell/Theorists/Weber/Whome.htm).

On the other hand, religious values in the East like Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism, etc. do not appear to promote the development or accumulation of capital, which is used to invest for entrepreneurial and productive ventures to create goods and services. For Weber, tradition bounded groups to such eastern values that make creativity and dynamic economic activities less possible. These types of religious values are strongly based on the sacred, which are "uniquely unalterable."

Authority as "Ideal Type"

Use of "ideal type" is one of Weber's contribution to sociology. In particular, his concepts of "authority" and "class" are examples of those lasting contribution. Like Marx, he believed in domination but he did not see it as necessarily oppressive. Authority is a type of domination, the probability that groups of people will obey certain commands from others or those in authority. He gave three types of authority: traditional, charisma, and legal-rational. The last type is the one prevalent in modern industrial society, legitimized by increasing rationality based on rules, laws and other legal instruments. Authority may also be legitimated by charisma based on the sanctity and exemplary traits of a leader (e.g., of a charismatic leader is Hitler). Or, authority may be sanctioned by tradition, where personal loyalty, obedience to leaders, patriarchy, and other "primary" forms of interactions define the social structure. Weber believed that traditional authority blocked development and change, as compared to the legal-rational structure that permits innovation and growth of capital.

Rationalization

Bureaucracy and capitalism promote increasing rationalization of social action. In Weber's words, capitalism and bureaucracy are "two great rationalizing forces." Rationality lies at the heart of Weber's sociology, and is used today as a major component of so-called "modernization theory" in sociology.

Rationality is about choices and careful planning. It is what impels people toward efficiency, calculability, predictability. A person who is exercising rational behavior is one who has control over these choices. A modern, bureaucratic organization drifts toward efficient management, which also makes results calculable and predictable.

He distinguished between several types of rationality, two of which are of major importance here: substantive rationality (subjective and informal) and formal rationality (legal). The second type is becoming the trend especially in the west, in which norms and values of legally constructed rationalization are becoming more paramount. But overemphasis on legal-rationality seems to have promoted "irrationality" due to the neglect of the very objective of creating organizations, that is to serve human beings.

Criticisms

While Weber contributed on substantive sociology, that is, he defined the subjects for sociological analysis and the underlying concepts (theories) that govern them, he did not offer methods to verify them. He was also criticized for his "value-free" advocacy in sociology, that objectivity in social science is quite difficult to achieve.

Also, Weber's concern with rationality has missed its unintended consequences, that life situations may become irrational if organizations form rules and laws while people obediently follow them. They may forget about the purposes for which the rules are made. People build their own "iron cage".

The other important criticism of Weber is his dismissal of other religious values. Protestant ethic appears to be the only one that leads people toward capitalism or accumulation of capital, which is the ingredient of western economic "progress." How does one explain the miraculous rise of Japan as one of the world's economic powers? Of China, as an awakened "giant?"

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