1st Edition

Max Weber’s Sociology From "the Protestant Ethic Thesis" and the American Political Culture to a Sociology of Civilizations

By Stephen Kalberg Copyright 2024
346 Pages
by Routledge

346 Pages
by Routledge

346 Pages
by Routledge

This volume outlines Max Weber’s comparative-historical sociology of "interpretive understanding" ( verstehen ) in a manner that clarifies his complex mode of analysis and multi-causal focus. Presenting the central features of his methodology, it demonstrates the strengths of his research strategies through discussions of his major works and overarching concerns. Among other themes, this study... Read more

Introduction PART I: "The Protestant Ethic Thesis," the Protestant Sects, and the American Reception 1. "The Protestant Ethic Thesis": The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism 2. The Protestant Sects and the "Breeding" of Ethical Action 3. The Protestant Ethic Revisited: Key Terminological Distinctions and the Debate 4. American Sociology’s Neglect of The Protestant Ethic as a Theoretical Treatise: Demarcating the Parameters of Postwar American Sociological Theory PART II: Beyond The Protestant Ethic: The Multi-Causal Sociology of Religion  5. From The Protestant Ethic to the Economic Ethics of the World Religions 6. "Ideas and Interests": From The Protestant Ethic to the Later Sociology of Religion PART III: The Origins, Uniqueness, and Pathway of the American Political Culture  7. Tocqueville and Weber on the Sociological Origins of Citizenship: The Political Culture of American Democracy  8. The Analysis of the Unique American Civic Sphere 9. The Modern World as a Monolithic Iron Cage? Utilizing Max Weber to Define the Internal Dynamics of the American Political Culture Today  PART IV: The Sociology of Civilizations 10. Economy and Society and the Sociology of Civilizations 11. The Five Major Civilizations Themes  12. The Nature of Work in Old and New Civilizations  13. On Racism and Its Social Contexts  14. Max Weber’s Sociology of Emotions: A Preliminary Analysis  15. Routinization Appendix I: Civilizations East and West – An Interview 281  Appendix II: Critical Remarks on the Translation of The Protestant Ethic by Talcott Parsons

Biography

Stephen Kalberg is Professor of Sociology Emeritus at Boston University and a Local Affiliate of the Center for European Studies at Harvard University. He is the author of Max Weber's Sociology of Civilizations: A Reconstruction, Max Weber’s Comparative-Historical Sociology, The Social Thought of Max Weber, Searching for the Spirit of American Democracy: Max Weber’s Analysis of a Unique Political Culture, and Max Weber’s Comparative-Historical Sociology Today. He is also the editor of Max Weber: Readings and Commentary on Modernity and the translator of Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.