La place de Max Weber dans la sociologie du droit allemande contemporaine

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This contribution describes and analyses how Maw Weber's sociology of law was received by German post-war Rechtssoziologie. Since this discipline is covered both by jurists and social scientists, we outline the history of how Weber's sociology of law was received both by jurisprudence (including the history of law and comparative law) and by the social sciences. We begin with 1947, the year when the third edition of Economy and Society was published. Particular attention is paid to the present situation. It becomes clear that Weber is acknowledged as a classical thinker, even though little notice was taken of his sociology of law for a long time. It is only recently, since the Seventies, that a change has taken place in this respect. In the case of jurisprudence in such a way that, with the establishment of the sociology of law as a discipline in university teaching, textbooks and introductions to the sociology of law came on the market which acknowledged Weber and his sociology oflaw. It has also to be stated, however, that it is generally rare for jurists to "work" with Weber. Within the social sciences, Weber's sociology of law has received attention to the extent that the leading interpreters of Weber became involved with the reconstruction of Weber's theory of rationalisation. With a few exceptions, which deal directly with Weber's sociology of law (in the sense of a reconstruction of the legal process of rationalisation, the examination of the theses inherited from Weber, taking up again the questions that he prompted), Weber's sociology of law thus occupies a special place in the social sciences, since it is presented as being embedded in greater theoretical contexts (theories of rationalisation, theories concerning the origins of the modem age). This can be proved with the aid of the theoretical drafts of Habermas, Schluchter and Muench that are presented in this paper. We do not restrict ourselves exclusively to describing the history of its reception, but with the aid of the extensive material we also deal with the question of the conditions for the reception of this classic study by Weber. Attention is also paid to the question of which subjects (e.g. increasing legalization or "explosion of statutory law") have become independent through the reception of Weber's sociology oflaw, and which determine the present discussion in the Federal Republic of Germany.