DA-IICT Logo

Resource Centre

Essential Weber : a reader

Whimster, Sam

Essential Weber : a reader - London : Routledge, 2004 - viii, 422 p. ; ill., 23 cm

Includes index.

Weber is increasingly being recognised as the theorist of modernity. Avoiding the mistakes of other classical thinkers, his sociological analysis has an increasing validity and relevance. Selected by one of the world's leading Weber scholars, this book introduces the work of this key thinker to a new generation of readers. Central themes highlighted in the collection are:

* the developmental logic of world religions
* the rise of modern capitalism
* the multi-dimensionality of power in societies
* the dilemmas of modernity
* the theory of social action
* ideal types and the objectivity of knowledge.

The majority of the readings have been specially translated for this collection both to improve accuracy and to make Weber speak anew in the idiom of the twenty-first century. Each part opens with a short introduction explaining the sequence of readings, the flow of ideas and their intellectual context, and concludes with a guide to further reading.

9780367630492


Capitalism
Social stratification
Ethnicity
Methodology
Modernity
Religion and sociology
Sociological theories
Weber, Max, 1864-1920
Modern capitalism
Asceticism
Bureaucracy
Class situation
Confucianism
Economic theory
Ethics
Gresham's law
Interpretative sociology
Modern state
Orgy
Social action
Tradition
Vocation
Charisma
Patriarchal rule

301 / WHI