Max Weber in Light of East Asian Development

Abstract

The article critically examines Peter Berger's claim that developments in East Asia during the past half century refute Weber's analyses of Chinese religion, in particular those relating to the potential effects that Confucianism might have on socio-economic modernization. To set the stage, it first presents data demonstrating the levels of development achieved by the currently most advanced exemplars of East Asia, namely Japan and the four so-called tigers South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. It then compares Peter Berger's assertion with what Weber actually said about Confucianism and other religioethical traditions. As it turns out, Weber's pertinent writings, if anything, are validated by the developments in Asia and other parts of the world, rather than refuted. However, an analysis of modernization that focused exclusively on cultural factors would be too narrow. Therefore, in a second step the analysis moves on to discussing another variable believed to have played a key role in East Asia's rise, the developmental state. As it turns out, the developmental state has many characteristics resembling Weber's conceptualization of legal-rational authority and bureaucratic organization. Thus, to the extent that it has contributed to East Asia's success, its existence too speaks to the continuing salience of Weber's work for analyses of large-scale social change.