Max Weber

Max Weber is a magisterial figure in the social sciences. His fundamental contributions to the methodological and conceptual apparatus of sociology remain of continuing relevance to contemporary debates. His astonishing range and quality of work on topics ranging from the comparative sociology of religion to political sociology, and the sociology of law to the sociology of music, have established Weber as a permanent point of reference for modern scholarship. Scholarly debates on the nature, significance and purpose of Weber's work demonstrate a significance for sociology's self-image that extends beyond their immediate interpretive importance. This volume, edited by one of the world's leading Weber scholars, offers an unparalleled selection of key Weber scholarship organized thematically and spanning the range of his sociological influence.

Contents: Introduction: the unending appeal of Max Weber within a globalized sociology; Part I Biography and General Assessments: The life and work of Max Weber, Carl Diehl; Authority and autonomy in marriage, Marianne Weber; How well do we know Max Weber after all?, Lutz Kaelber; The changing picture of Max Weber’s sociology, Richard Swedberg. Part II Early Work: Max Weber’s dissertation, Lutz Kaelber; Max Weber as rural sociologist, Q.J. Munters; Max Weber and the theory of ancient capitalism, John Love. Part III The Protestant Ethic: Part I: Calvinism and the infallible assurance of grace: the Weber thesis reconsidered, Malcolm H. MacKinnon; Part II Weber’s exploration of Calvinism: the undiscovered provenance of capitalism, Malcolm H. MacKinnon; The vanishing mediator: narrative structure in Max Weber, Fredric Jameson; Max Weber’s idea of ’puritanism’: a case study in the empirical construction of the Protestant ethic, Peter Ghosh. Part IV Methods: Max Weber, methods and the man, John Torrance; The ontology of the questionnaire: Max Weber on measurement and mass investigation, Robert Michael Brain; Instrumentum vocale: a note on Max Weber’s value-free polemics and sociological aesthetics, Thomas M. Kemple. Part V Religion: Max Weber and the comparative study of religious ethics, David Little; Max Weber’s Ancient Judaism, Tony Fahey; Max Weber and world-denying love: a look at the historical sociology of religion, Robert N. Bellah. Part VI Economics and Law: Max Weber’s 'grand sociology' :the origins and composition of Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft Soziologie, Wolfgang J. Mommsen; Max Weber: precursor of economic sociology and heterodox economics?, Helge Peukert; Max Weber and economic sociology: a response to Peukert, Stephen D. Parsons; Max Weber’s critical response to theoretical economics, Patrick Mardellat; Formal justice and the spirit of capitalism: Max Weber’s sociology of law, Sally Ewing. Part VII Culture: Flaubert and Weber: post-he

Alan Sica is Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of the Social Thought Program at Pennsylvania State University. Amongst his many publications are 'Weber, Irrationality and Social Order' (California 1988); 'Max Weber and the New Century' (Transaction 2003) 'Max Weber: A Comprehensive Bibliography' (Transaction 2004); 'What is Social Theory? The Philosophical Debates (ed, Blackwell 1998); and 'Social Thought: From the Enlightenment to the Present' (ed, Allyn & Bacon 2004). He was Editor of the ASA journal, Sociological Theory journal from 1989 to 1994, and is currently Editor of Contemporary Sociology.