Weber's Analysis Research Articles

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CAPITALISM: MAX WEBER AND MILTON FRIEDMAN

Purpose- The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism," and Milton Friedman's influential book, "Capitalism and Freedom," offer valuable insights into the intricate relationship between religion, capitalism, and the development of Western societies. Weber's analysis focuses on the historical and cultural factors that have shaped the evolution of capitalism, particularly examining the influence of religious beliefs, such as Protestantism. He argues that the Protestant work ethic, emphasizing hard work, thrift, and the pursuit of wealth, played a significant role in fostering capitalism. On the other hand, Friedman, an economist and advocate of classical liberal economics, explores the advantages of free-market capitalism and emphasizes limited government intervention in the economy. While acknowledging the historical impact of religion, Friedman primarily addresses the economic principles of capitalism and its relationship with political freedom. Weber's work draws upon historical research and sociological insights, while Friedman relies on economic theory and empirical analysis. Ultimately, Weber's analysis provides a deeper understanding of how Western societies adopted a capitalist work ethos, while Friedman's "Capitalism and Freedom" promotes a laissez-faire approach to economic policy, advocating for limited government intervention and the benefits of free markets. Methodology- Methodology employed in this study centers around conducting a discourse analysis of Max Weber's "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" and Milton Friedman's "Capitalism and Freedom." The aim was to deconstruct the narratives presented in these influential books and analyze their respective perspectives on the relationship between religion, capitalism, and freedom. The primary methodological approach involved a close reading and critical examination of the texts, through which the ideas, arguments, and underlying assumptions put forth by Weber and Friedman were explored. By thoroughly engaging with the content of the books, a comprehensive understanding of the authors' viewpoints and the nuances of their arguments was sought. Additionally, comparative analysis techniques were employed to identify similarities and differences in the approaches taken by Weber and Friedman. Through this comparative approach, the distinctive aspects of their theories were highlighted, and the broader discourse surrounding religion, capitalism, and freedom in Western societies was illuminated.. Findings- According to Max Weber, the Protestant Reformation, with a specific focus on Calvinism, was instrumental in promoting values and behaviors that nurtured the capitalist spirit. The Protestant work ethic, emphasizing hard work, thrift, and the pursuit of wealth, created an environment conducive to the rise of capitalism. Milton Friedman primarily explores the economic principles of capitalism and their relationship with political freedom. It is argued by Friedman that economic freedom is a necessary condition for achieving civil and political freedom. Emphasis is placed on the detrimental effects of excessive government intervention, and advocacy is made for limited state control and free-market capitalism. Friedman believes that a competitive capitalist system, characterized by voluntary cooperation and individual initiative, can prevent the concentration of coercive political power. It is posited by him that economic arrangements, based on free markets and individual freedom, are crucial for the overall promotion of a free society. Conclusion- Both studies are unique in their own ways and contribute to original ideas on what capitalism ought to be. Weber compared to Friedman has a profound insight in how capitalism has grown from specific cultural and religious values. Friedman struggles with explaining how capitalism might have risen, but relies heavily on classic liberal ideas on how capitalism must be perceived to be a necessity for political freedoms. Keywords: Capitalism, protestant ethic, economic freedom, political freedom, hard work, discipline, free market JEL Codes: B1, B2, P4, Z1

Theology of Humanity in the Sufism Community of the Sabbaqal Mufarridiyah Group in Pekalongan Indonesia

Theology of humanity is a development of previous theology which discusses about divinity and its characteristics then develops not only to discuss about God, but more about human relations with each other as a manifestation of the closeness of human relations to their Lord. At this stage then theology was connected with social matters of humanity and gave birth to the theology of humanity. This paper discusses the principles of human theology based on God and how the motives and the process of implementing the theology of humanity are run by the community of the Sabbaqal Mufaridiyyah community. The method used is the analysis of Emile Durkem Social Solidarity and Max Weber's social action analysis to find out the motives and objectives of the establishment of this theological theology of humanity. The results of this study are the Sabbaqal Mufarridiyah who has produced a sufism community that does not focus on transcendent theology but humanity theology through the role of Mufarridiyah community in various social activities such as helping the community in the form of medical help, alleviating problems, and resolving economic problems experienced by the community especially between sufism community of Mufarridiyah.

"Eternal, Slithery Penance": Graham Swift's Waterland and the Secularization of Confession

"Eternal, Slithery Penance":Graham Swift's Waterland and the Secularization of Confession Ryan Siemers (bio) "Your history teacher wishes to give you the complete and final version," the narrator of Graham Swift's Waterland, Tom Crick, tells his high school students (7–8). Crick refers to his personal and family history, his account of which constitutes the novel. Crick's avowed aim echoes auricular confession, which requires the complete recounting of a penitent's sins before he or she receives absolution. Like a religious confessant, Crick seeks absolution for past sins: he feels guilty about the abortion of his would-be son, the death of his childhood friend Freddie Parr, and the suicide of his brother. Indeed, Crick reveals his guilt over these deaths to the police: "I confess my responsibility, jointly with my wife, for the death of three people" (314).1 However, because he speaks to his students, to the police, and (implicitly) to the reader rather than to a father confessor with the purpose and authority to offer him absolution, Crick's secular self-examination and self-narration threaten to be endless. In a desperate and improvisational response to that problem, Crick universalizes his condition over the course of his narrative to assuage his feelings of guilt and bring his secular confession to a close. Crick's narrative should be read in the context of—and as a response to the problems posed by—the secularization of confession. As I use the term here, "secularization" stands not for an inevitable decline of religious affiliation due to modernization (a once-prominent thesis that has undergone revision in sociology), but for an interminable historical [End Page 56] process by which religious concepts and practices are translated or transposed into the secular sphere and by which they continue to function in that sphere, often with unexpected consequences.2 Carl Schmitt and Karl Löwith provide examples of secularization understood as transposition: Schmitt claims that "all significant concepts of the modern theory of the state are secularized theological concepts" (37), and Löwith argues that the modern notion of progress and the associated conception of linear history are due to the secularization of Christian eschatology. As I use it here, secularization encompasses the kind of transposition proposed by Schmitt and Löwith, along with the continuing and unpredictable dynamism of once-religious contents following that transposition. Max Weber's analysis may provide an example of the latter: for Weber, the transposition of rational acquisitiveness from Protestantism (wherein wealth provides evidence of election) to modern capitalism (wherein wealth is an end in itself) conditions the modern laborer and makes the current economic order possible—which, of course, is not at all what Martin Luther or John Calvin had in mind. Waterland's Tom Crick demonstrates the transposition of religious contents into the secular sphere, but his narrative also suggests that Weber's rationalization may reverse itself, that disenchantment may prompt re-enchantment. Crick transposes auricular confession into the relationship between himself and his students, but he then appeals to an enchanted circular history as a means to escape the psychological impasse produced by that transposition. Crick critiques progress and prefers cyclical history. Like Löwith, who opts for circular history because it comports with the notion of historical continuity (207), Crick desires historical continuity—especially regarding sexual generation, which in his case has been stymied. (His wife, Mary, is unable to bear children following an abortion.) More importantly, Crick prefers a re-enchanted form of that history—re-enchanted not by a return to ancient Greek paganism, as Löwith ultimately proposes, but through an idiosyncratic mythology of Crick's own making—because it assuages his sense of guilt by relating his individual experience to a universal pattern. Waterland thus illuminates a psychological dimension of Löwith's preferred alternative to linear history: for a subject suffering from a guilty conscience, circular history transforms personal guilt into a universal condition that is less psychologically burdensome due to its impersonality. [End Page 57] Before we examine Crick's narrative in more detail, however, we should address an important objection to the basic premise that secularization entails the transposition of religious concepts and practices...

Charisma and the clinic.

Here we argue that 'charisma', a concept widely taken up within geography and the environmental humanities, is of utility to the social studies of medicine. Charisma, we suggest, draws attention to the affective dimensions of medical work, the ways in which these affective relations are structured, and the manner in which they are intimately tied to particular material-discursive contexts. The paper differentiates this notion of charisma from Weber's analyses of the 'charismatic leader' before detailing three forms of charisma - ecological (which relates to the affordances an entity has), corporeal (related to bodily interaction) and aesthetic (pertaining to an entity's initial visual and emotional impact). Drawing on interview data, we then show how this framework can be used to understand the manner in which psychologists and neuroscientists have come to see and act on autism. We conclude the article by suggesting that examining charisma within healthcare settings furthers the concept, in particular by drawing attention to the discursive features of ecologies and the 'non-innocence' of charisma.

Parliament and public opinion in Max Weber's analysis

SUMMARYPublic opinion was converted into a mass phenomenon concerning an extended public, through the process of democratization that occurred at the end of the nineteenth century. This transformation aroused the interest of social and political scientists: Ferdinand Tönnies, Hermann Oncken, and James Bryce, who highlighted relevant aspects relating to public opinion, the process of its formation, and its social and political meaning. By taking inspiration from these studies, Max Weber stressed the role played by the press in shaping public opinion. He also recognized that public opinion constituted an influential factor in political life, which nevertheless needed politico-institutional mediation reducing its emotional components. From this perspective, Parliament was the most appropriate institution to provide this mediation, since it provided a work of synthesis and elaboration of the different issues circulating in the public sphere. Additionally, the activity of Parliament could also contribute in a relevant way to forming an educated public capable of judging in a reflective and responsible manner, by demonstrating its expertise and efficiency through substantial work and factual decision-making.

Searching for the Spirit of American Democracy: Max Weber's Analysis of a Unique Political Culture, Past, Present, and Future by Stephen Kalberg (review)

Book Reviews 271 Stephen Kalberg, Searching for the Weher's Analysis of a Unique Politic (Boulder, CO and London: Paradig 978-1-61205-444-5. $138.00. In this slim volume, Stephen Kalb of democracy in America, or the s decried on both left and right. He yses such as Robert Putnam's ce America's declining social capita the specifically religious underpinn Instead, Kalberg turns to Max We of American society and culture. A implicit theoretical debate between endnotes, Kalberg pits the fundam thesis against essentially structura equality as the key to understandin nesses of values favourable to dem political) contribution to the debat racy, Kalberg's intentions in this are primarily pedagogical, as evide of Weberian terms and appendice United States in 1904 and on his Kalberg wants more to show ho ideal-typical analysis of singular h contemporary understandings of p America's 17th century Puritan roo the potential salvation of the 'spiri Kalberg succinctly defines the s 'civic individualism,' a 'symbio affirm themselves through pract rational, or utilitarian) action in berg's argument, or rather his expl into American democracy, posits keystone of American political cul interpretation in the Protestant alone before God sought certitud tion of his or her righteousness in the elective sect. In the 19th centu self-worth and social status transla of multiple associations whose m© Max Weber Studies 2015. 272 Max Weber Studies individualism in conformity with col Weber thus understood that American ized, anomic mass of individuals as Toc become and as Weber's German social was the inevitable fate of all modern s a brief interesting comparison with late Germany to suggest how the absence o to the United States reinforced Vergesell tion as well as the relegation of ethics to Weber of course recognized that th immune to the iron-cage logics of moder wanted to practice the grinding disciplin while the modern capitalist industrialist the practical-rationality of the ultimatel of productivity, the Protestant ethic und can democracy' would give way to the pu the political corruption and heightened in cultural pessimism is well-known, but, as an ideal-typical exaggeration that negle minism of Weber's social theory. Thus, of optimism. Certain traits of salutary civ example, in the moralistic tone of politica form professional organizations that do n bers' interests but establish norms for intensity of social conflicts such as the 'cu tive, powerfully held beliefs about social derly political culture, but it belongs to tradition to which Weber also subscribe competitive partisan parliamentary demo In short, Kalberg offers the reader a so Weber's political thought through the for American democracy. At times Kal very Weberian language of positivism sequences and the like). I suspect, how with his framing of his exposé of Web American political culture in current deb racy, was to make Weber more accessib rian scholars will forgive him and appr of his maître à penser. Laurence McFalls Université de Montréal© Max Weber Studies 2015. Laurence McFalls ...

Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Gesamtregister (Max Weber Gesamtausgabe I/25) by Max Weber , Edith Hanke , Christoph Morlok (review)

Book Reviews 279 The most unsatisfying chapter— written extensively on the same to siders Weber's analysis of class. T from other chapters and simply of Weber's discussion of social stratification. Gane reiterates the now well-known distinction between 'class' and 'status' and he repeats the very common misinterpretation that Weber had postulated 'party' as a third dimension of stratification. While it is certainly true that Weber's unfinished fragment did explore the formation of parties on the basis of class and status situations, his wider work also examined 'authority' and the formation of elites as a third aspect of the social distribution of power and as the basis of yet further 'party' formation. There is, however, no discussion of authority in Gane's chapter. What is most surprising, given Gane's stated intention at the beginning of the book, is that the chapter does not go beyond this partial exposi tion. Gane alludes to an implicit theory of a move from status to con tract but does not note that this was precisely the argument of Weber himself and of Ferdinand Tönnies and Henry Maine before him. There is also no consideration of how the analysis of class and status can be used in any of the theories discussed in the rest of the book. So, does the book achieve its aims? It certainly provides us with many insights into certain contemporary theories and guidance for using these theories to understand aspects of contemporary capital ism. However, it does not consider whether these are the best or most useful theories to use in the first place. Readers will have to make up their own minds on this question and, in my opinion, can do so only by considering empirical evidence relating to them. This need for empirical analysis is certainly something that Weber would have recognised. John Scott Honorary Professor, Copenhagen University, Denmark Honorary Visiting Professor, University of Exeter, UK John Scott Max Weber, Wirtschaft und Gesellschafl. Gesamtregister (ed. Edith Hanke and Christoph Morlok; Max Weber Gesamtausgabe 1/25; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2015), XXIV + 477 pp. ISBN 978-3-16 152999-3. €199.00. One can only guess what Max Weber might have thought about this volume, which is an index to a single book of his. The Gesamtregister© Max Weber Studies 2015. 280 Max Weber Studies has slightly over 500 pages and is mor entire Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. As been slightly perplexed or simply amus seemed interested in either fame or att likely would have approved of this ind tains a wealth of material, but because it s and re-evaluate some of our ideas about und Gesellschaft. When Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft first volume 3 of Weber's series, the Grundr its index was a rather short one of twen Ernst Kohler, an assistant in the Law Facu ther complete nor very useable, and bot publisher Werner Siebeck were quite dis it was, Kohler's index was used in the seco it remained unchanged until 1956, whe enlarged the index for the fourth edition 57 pages while his fifth edition from 1972 The Sachregister is now 450 pages and the fourteen pages. That means that the nam shorter than Kohler's entire index. The name index reveals a number of inter mentions his colleagues and fellow schol Simmel, Ferdinand Tönnies, and Georg J entries; Eduard Meyer has five, Werner each has ten. It is unclear why Weber refe so infrequently—perhaps he was uncom he did not think it important. The only r more than twenty listings is because W tion of Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft to a r of Knapp's Staatliche Theorie des Geldes that Heinrich Rickert and Friedrich Nietzsche exerted considerable influence on Weber's thinking, but together they have fewer than ten entries. (Rickert does not figure prominently here because Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft is not a methodological work, and Nietzsche receives relatively few mentions because the work does not engage with the contemporary crisis of values.) The fact that Plato and Pericles have so many entries (six and ten) may be an indicator of the formative influence of Weber's humanistic education. The number of entries of religious figures is also...

Uprooting Class? Culture, World-Making and Reform

The paper opens up the issue of how to relate culture to class in the UK. First, problematizing the conflation of class with status – inherent to stratification models like the GBCS – we theorize culture as ‘world-making’ rather than limit culture to artistic or individual possession. Second, exploring culture in the wake of reforms aimed at local and institutional ‘cultures’ that are said to hold back economic growth, we examine power relations between class and culture. After clarifying how Weber's analysis of stratification keeps economic relations underpinning class distinct from the cultural mores of status groups, we point to a third dimension in his emphasis on parties – those groupings locked in the struggle for dominance across all levels and modes of life – as the ‘house of power’. Contrary to his supposition of homogeneity, however, we suggest legitimation today requires contesting parties, including factions and interest groups, to recruit from across class and status groups. Arguing recruitment to parties is enhanced by a mood of endless reform – in which modernity appears bent on tearing up its own foundations – we indicate how the resulting sense of precariousness is augmented by the stratifying technologies of grading and ranking. The pertinent question is: Who benefits from endless reform? And if the answer is no more than to recognize how benefits are skewed to an ‘elite’ working on behalf of owners of capital, then it is time to put aside stratification for an analysis of class relations that pointedly attends to wider notions of culture by asking: Who gets the say in world-making?

'How Ideas become Effective in History' Max Weber on Confucianism and Beyond

Max Weber's interest in East Asia starts as early as 1898, but it comes to fruition only after 1910. Instead of continuing his essays on ascetic Protestantism, as promised to the public, he embarked on a comparison of world religions, in which he included Confucianism, although he did not regard it as a religion in the strict sense of the term. As a matter of expediency, he used Confucianism, however, as the most pronounced counterexample to ascetic Protestantism, seemingly similar from the outside, but totally different from the inside. So Confucianism is included in his attempt to provide a sociology and typology of religious rationalism. Confucianism is also used as a backdrop to understand the singularity of the Western development. The sketch, as he calls it, is not meant as a full-fledged analysis of this intellectual and social movement nor of Imperial China at large. Therefore, it is very dangerous to apply Weber's analysis to the current situation in China (after the 'Cultural Revolution' and the one-child policy). I call this the fallacy of misplaced application. This does not rule out, however, using Weber's methodology and conceptual tools to a certain extent for such an analysis. How this can be done, is shown in the last section of this presentation.

The Legal Ethos of Late Imperial China: Two Neglected and Rival Legal Specialists

Although Max Weber pointed out the importance of the Literati or Mandarin and their cultural ethos, mainly Confucianism and Taoism, in the maintenance of order of imperial China, his analysis of the carrier strata left some problems to be elaborated. One is the structural differentiation and social mobilization caused by civil service examinations (CSE). The literati who did not pass the CSE to become civil servants, such as the local magistrate, often earned their living as legal and financial advisors of the mandarins. Private secretaries and litigation masters were the most commonly seen occupations, and they became involved in the local legal practice. Along with this trend, the other problem is the cultural ethos, not always shared, within the three roles–local magistrate, private secretary, and litigation master. While they might have a similar experience of Confucianism during their examination life, there existed different professional ethics and religious faiths after their career paths and jobs diverged. As far as these two observations are concerned, this paper attempts to extend Weber's analysis of literati into local legal practice. Using the different texts left respectively by local magistrate, private secretary, and litigation master, I try to compare their different self-images and prejudices against one another. The implication of this paper is double: Weber's insight could be revived again by investigating the structural differentiation within the literati strata, but the ethical analysis indicates a much more complicated ethos than his 'Confucianism and Taoism' theme.

The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics, and Postwork Imaginaries

The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics, and Postwork Imaginaries

Process, people, and conflict management in organizations

PurposeIn this viewpoint, the authors argue that the predominant method of analyzing conflict management focuses too heavily on the managerial interests in administrative efficiency and productivity rather than on the needs of individuals and organizations. The aim of this paper is to employ Weber's analysis of conflict systems, specifically the distinction between formal and substantive rationality, to support the authors’ view.Design/methodology/approachThis is a viewpoint, where content is dependent on the author's opinion and interpretation.FindingsConflict management based on Weber's theories of formal and substantive rationality will benefit organizations and society by promoting a more positive perception of corporate behavior.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research could examine the relationship between organizational justice and the more global concepts of formality and rationality. Similarly, future research on justice may be expanded by through the notion and perception of legitimacy by members of the organization. How employees accept a system as fair and just has potential import for future justice research.Practical implicationsThe combination of formal and substantive rationality offers a practical, and meaningful, way of dealing with conflict from a personal orientation as well as an organizational one. It orients conflict resolution toward people rather than productivity concerns. It further safeguards organizational interests by minimizing litigation, negative publicity, and other adverse effects of conflict.Originality/valueWeber theorized that formal rationality requires organizations to develop clear, objective, and universal procedures in order to carry out administrative routines. Substantive rationality, in contrast, acknowledges that specific cases may demand particularized decision‐making focusing on individual cases. The paper draws on the procedural justice literature to show how these procedures can be implemented in a fair manner.

READING WEBER AMONG THE SIKHS: ASCETICISM AND CAPITALISM IN THE 3HO/SIKH DHARMA

This paper explores the utility of applying Max Weber's analysis of the unique relationship between the Protestant ethic and capitalism to the 3HO/Sikh Dharma. The diverse Yogi Tea and Akal Security brands – the former a health food enterprise, the latter specializing in prison and other private security contracts – comprise a multi-billion dollar concern founded and operated within the 3HO/Sikh Dharma organization's Khalsa International Industries. Is the success of these businesses a reflection of Weber's notion of capitalist asceticism, in keeping with the central position of white converts from Western religious traditions in 3HO/Sikh Dharma, or, might it reflect uniquely Sikh efforts to refuse a distinction between spiritual and material realms?

Max Weber, the Exchange, and the possibilities of political and parliamentary intervention

Max Weber's analysis of the Exchange focuses on the one hand on the meaning of this institution for modern economy, and on the other hand on the need to create political frames regulating its activity. According to Weber, the Exchange brings about a rationalization of the financial and economic system based on quantification, globalization, and impersonality, abstracting from concrete situations and relationships. Nevertheless, this also implies limiting personal responsibility and reducing the capacity of control and overview. In order to overcome the negative effects, it is necessary to define the forms of intervention of politics as well as its margins. Weber's scientific issues are supported by the personal experience he had in Germany by participating in the provisory board created after the financial crisis of 1890. Weber conceives of internal representative-like institutions supervising the Exchange, but he also ascribes to the parliament a central function consisting of regulating transactions and taking measures at a legislative level. A parliament elected by means of a universal and equal suffrage is for him the most adequate institution to supervise the Exchange, as it equalizes social as well as economic differences and it takes into consideration the fundamental needs of the people. Nevertheless, since the Exchange is also a global institution, Weber stresses in addition the relevance of international agreements, in order to guarantee more transparency and stability.

Max Weber in Light of East Asian Development

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.

Charisma and Space

AbstractThis article uses Max Weber's analysis of charisma to differentiate types of symbolic places. Although Weber did not include the role of space in his analysis of charisma, we can construct different types of spatial charisma based on his distinction between traditional and bureaucratic regimes. Heritage sites and monuments are used by traditional regimes to legitimise their rule by looking back to their charismatic origins, while futuristic places are used to convince the population that bureaucratic regimes will provide a brighter future. In reality these ideal types of charismatic places are almost always mixed. Nation‐states combine both types of charismatic places. The analysis of the Zeche Zollverein in Essen, Germany shows that the meaning of a place can change and incorporate both types of spatial charisma at the same time and place. This was the consequence of a deliberate policy to legitimise a new economic regime in Germany's Ruhr area.

Michael Curtis . Orientalism and Islam: European Thinkers on Oriental Despotism in the Middle East and India . New York : Cambridge University Press . 2009 . Pp. ix, 382. Cloth $85.00, paper $22.99.

The subject of this book is indicated in its subtitle rather than its title: it is a study not of Orientalism and Islam but of the views on Oriental despotism held by a selection of Western thinkers from the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries. After an introduction and three preliminary chapters providing general surveys of such themes as the relations between Europe and the Muslim world, European views of Islam, and works by travellers to the East, Michael Curtis devotes a chapter each to Montesquieu, Edmund Burke, Alexis de Tocqueville, James and John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, and Max Weber. These chapters contain quite detailed studies of the writings of each thinker, which provide useful summaries of their views of despotism and the Orient. Curtis has scoured their works for relevant discussions, which he situates carefully in relation to their broader views. It should however be noted that the chapter on Tocqueville is mainly devoted to the issue of the colonization of Algeria, in which the question of despotism hardly appears, while the Mills' discussion of India is largely concerned with Hindu rather than Muslim civilization, and Weber's analysis of patrimonialism ranges over a huge chronological and geographical field.

Direct microscopic image and measurement of the atomization process of a port fuel injector

The main objective of this study is to observe and investigate the phenomena of atomization, i.e. the fuel break-up process very close to the nozzle exit of a practical port fuel injector (PFI). In order to achieve this objective, direct microscopic images of the atomization process were obtained using an ultra-high-speed video camera that could record 102 frames at rates of up to 1 Mfps, coupled with a long-distance microscope and Barlow lens. The experiments were carried out using a PFI in a closed chamber at atmospheric pressure. Time-series images of the spray behaviour were obtained with a high temporal resolution using backlighting. The direct microscopic images of a liquid column break-up were compared with experimental results from laser-induced exciplex fluorescence (LIEF), and the wavelength obtained from the experimental results compared with that predicated from the Kelvin–Helmholtz break-up model. The droplet size diameters from a ligament break-up were compared with results predicated from Weber's analysis. Furthermore, experimental results of the mean droplet diameter from a direct microscopic image were compared with the results obtained from phase Doppler anemometry (PDA) experimental results. Three conclusions were obtained from this study. The atomization processes and detailed characterizations of the break-up of a liquid column were identified; the direct microscopic image results were in good agreement with the results obtained from LIEF, experimental results of the wavelength were in good agreement with those from the Kelvin–Helmholtz break-up model. The break-up process of liquid ligaments into droplets was investigated, and Weber's analysis of the predicated droplet diameter from ligament break-up was found to be applicable only at larger wavelengths. Finally, the direct microscopic image method and PDA method give qualitatively similar trends for droplet size distribution and quantitatively similar values of Sauter mean diameter.

Max Weber. Briefe 1915-1917 (Max Weber Gesamtausgabe II/9) by Gerd Krumeich , M. Rainer Lepsius , Birgit Rudhard , Manfred Schön (review)

Book Rexnews 125 conscience over against conscience collective, never really took place—or somehow no longer needs to be taken seriously as a substantive constraint on the thinkability of openings to absolute spiritual guidance for conduct of life in the twenty-first century. Austin Harrington Max-Weber-Kolleg für kultur- und sozialwissenschaftliche Studien University of Erfurt Max Weber. Briefe 1915-1917 (ed. Gerd Krumeich and M. Rainer Lepsius with Birgit Rudhard and Manfred Schön; Max Weber Gesamtausgabe U/9; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2008), pp. xxiii + 949. ISBN 978-3-16-149481-9. €344. This is a demanding volume of letters to review. The range of Weber's inter ests—political, social-economic, academic, publishing, familial, personal—already established prior to 1915 continued to expand. He successfully held down a very responsible administrative job organising military hospitals in the Heidelberg area. We are presented with a resilient Weber. Apart from the odd moan, and still aided by medication to help him sleep, Weber was relentless in every task he undertook with no time off for long holidays or cures, and he suffered no breakdown of mental and physical strength. Over the period 1915 to 1917, just about every sphere of his life became grimmer yet his 'geistiger' strength responded to each new setback, eliciting new analyses, offering practical ways forward and mounting, often, fero cious attacks against enemies. The letters are frequently emotionally expressive, yet Weber does not lose his balance. The extended Weber family, of which Weber is the acknowledged head, threw up continuous problems of relationships, bad behaviour, money issues and bereavement. Weber, and Marianne Weber, held things together and came up with solutions. Germany's fortunes during this period of the war fluctuated markedly yet Weber's analyses of the geo-political ('welt-politische') situation are remarkably consistent. He refused to concede that Germany might not emerge with honour and significant gains to its security, even as material and food shortages and sense of encirclement grew throughout 1916 and 1917. And he refused to get carried away in the euphoria of military victories in 1915 and the collapse of Russia in 1917. In terms of his academic editing and writing he is a model of efficiency and applica tion. Whenever breaks occur during his wartime duties and posts, his essays on the world religions are rapidly progressed, and editorial correspondence attended to. The bigger tasks, like Economy and Society, which is referred to as his 'sociology', are sensibly postponed till after the war—despite Paul Siebeck's pleading. We are, of course, reading his correspondence with other people and hence we perceive his social side. But, at points in letters to his mother, his wife, and his intimate friend Mina Tobler, he admits and apologizes for not being more forthcoming when in their company. Beneath the engaged and energized personality, it is possible to glimpse the silent, brooding and alone Weber only too aware of the developing awfulness of the war and the stupidity that contributed to it. Many themes in the letters have already been presented in academic publications, most notably Wolfgang J. Mommsen's famous book (Max Weber and German Politics), and in Wolfgang Schluchter's analyses of the sociology of religion and Economy and© Max Weber Studies 2010. 126 Max Weber Studies Society. Over and beyond these contributions, however, the letters give a sense of coherence, conveyed by being able to follow the narrative threads of this period of his life. Narrative coherence does not map exactly to programmatic presentations, and readers of this volume will find many research themes and angles to pursue. There is, also, much new material in this volume, not least in the informal comments Weber makes about colleagues and their publications, and his own plans and writings. Weber's war The volume opens with letters to Paul Siebeck and to Frieda Gross in which Weber outlines his eight months of continuous service, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week. To Siebeck, Weber says that the authors contracted for the 'Grundriss der Sozialökonomik' have to be given more time and that he has no time to correct and prepare his 'Sociology'. To Frieda Gross, he...

Introduction

Abstract Critical Theory developed in response to the specific historical developments of twentieth-century Europe: war and revolution, the transformation of Communism into Stalinism, and the rise of Nazi Germany. Combining the legacy of German philosophical idealism with the tradition of critics of idealism—Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Marx, and Nietzsche—Critical Theory also built on the emergent social theory, especially Weber's analysis of modernity and his one overriding theme, bureaucratization. For Weber, creative innovations that transform social life and that take shape especially through religious genius as charismatic prophecy succumb to the dead weight of the world: however animating the idea, however compelling the vision,…