Weber's Concept Research Articles

Смешанная модель: Макс Вебер и реальность

The article is devoted to the analysis of the semi-presidential, or mixed, model (system) of power. This structure is of a particular interest, not least due to the fact that it creates favorable conditions for the authoritarian evolution. Of course, an authoritarian regime can form in both the presidential and parliamentary systems, but the semi-p residential model holds much greater potential for such a development of events. The main flaw of the semi-presidential system is that the president is normatively placed above all institutions of power, but at the same time retains prerogatives that do not allow him to remain politically impartial. This position of the president in the system of power distorts his political self-identification. He begins to perceive himself as an analogue of an absolute monarch and monopolizes power via legal means. One of the fathers of the mixed model was Max Weber, whose idea of a plebiscitary president marked the beginning of the formation of a new type of a republican form of government, first enshrined in the Constitution of (Weimar) Germany in 1919. This is why the author thoroughly examines Weber’s concept, his role in the development of the Weimar Constitution, and compares his views with the normative model reflected in the Constitution. The article shows that although the Weimar Constitution did not adopt all of Weber’s principles and moved much further away from the model of a presidential republic, the main Weberian ideas were included in the form of certain norms. The final part of the article presents a number of critical considerations about certain provisions of the Weberian concept and the Weimar model of power.

Violence and Power of the Modern British Monarch

Violence and Power of the Modern British Monarch

The Adoption of Artificial Intelligence in Bureaucratic Decision-making: A Weberian Perspective

This work questions AI´s role in bureaucratic decision-making. The Weberian conception of bureaucracy, based around the concept of an ideal bureaucracy in which authority is distributed, delegated, clearly delimited and hierarchical and that enshrines the following of formal rules, task specialization through division of labor, legal certainty and a predilection for efficiency in recordable and accountable decisions can serve as a framework to orient how governments should approach the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) given the many problems associated with its careless deployment. Using theoretical analysis, this work explains Weberian ideas of bureaucracy and contrasts them with real-life cases of implementation of AI in bureaucratic decision-making, often with detrimental results for society. After identifying and framing issues related to AI, e.g., lack of transparency, attempts to shift accountability from humans to technology, the exacerbation of bias and potential for systemic discrimination, the paper proposes Weberian prescriptions that should help public administration make careful decisions about the adoption of AI and the consequences of its implementation. The article also engages with Weber critically, rejecting the notion that public administrators do not engage in politics and asserting that AI decision-making is necessarily political as well, as it entails exercising power over citizens.

Legitimacy in Internal Conflict: Insurgency and Counterinsurgency

Max Weber's (the Weberian) concept of legitimacy is the most applied form of legitimacy but lacks the concept to address the contemporary complex issues that are prevalent in today's unconventional conflicts. Legitimacy is neither state-centric nor top-down alone. It is dynamic and may shift from one group to the other in the contested security environment and, take the bottom-up approach. The 'Western' Counterinsurgency undermines the power of the insurgents who would build their legitimacy to advance their cause. This is mainly because the 'Western' view of state formation dominates discussions on legitimacy. Insurgents and counterinsurgents both compete for legitimacy at the local level, to win over the belief and trust of the people that primarily give the legitimacy the shape of bottom-up.

Legitimidade, poder e autoridade: uma perspectiva weberiana

Abstract This study aims to comprehensively analyze the Weberian concept of legitimacy, focusing on its implications for the empirical strength and stability of a social order. It begins by examining the incentives that ensure the legitimacy of an order, with particular emphasis on the relationship between law and morality. Furthermore, it explores the various theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches to legitimacy found in the literature, highlighting their relevance to the development of a more robust framework for understanding this complex phenomenon. Drawing from diverse sources and scholarly debates, the study investigates the role of value-oriented action (wertrationales Handeln) in shaping the nature and effectiveness of legitimate social orders. It also delves into the factors that contribute to the internal reasons for subjects to believe in a legitimate order. By synthesizing insights from various disciplines and intellectual traditions, this study aims to contribute to a more nuanced and holistic understanding of legitimacy. It also seeks to provide a solid foundation for future research and policy-making, emphasizing the importance of considering both empirical and normative aspects of legitimacy when examining the factors that contribute to the stability and resilience of social orders.

Birokrasi dan Struktur Kekuasaan dalam Organisasi Pendidikan Modern: dengan Pendekatan Max Weber

This research examines the role of bureaucracy and power structure in modern educational organizations using the Max Weber's theoretical approach. The primary objective of this study is to understand how Weber's concepts related to bureaucracy and power can be applied in the context of contemporary educational institutions. The research methodology employed in this study is a literature review, involving a comprehensive examination of literature from various sources, including books, scholarly journals, and conference papers, relevant to Max Weber's theory, bureaucracy, and power structure in modern educational organizations. The collected data were qualitatively analyzed to support the research findings. The research findings indicate that Weber's bureaucratic principles, such as division of labor, hierarchy, and rational rules, still hold relevance in modern educational organizations. However, their impact may differ in an educational context, where aspects such as flexibility, innovation, and participation also hold significance. Furthermore, the power structure in modern educational organizations can be understood through Weber's concepts of authority and control. This study provides in-depth insights into how Weber's theory can help us comprehend the dynamics of bureaucracy and power in educational institutions, which, in turn, can support improvements and developments in modern education systems.

The Arts as a Vocation

Abstract This article is a revised version of the 2022 Michael Volkerling Memorial Lecture. It offers insights for the GLAM sector into the history of Australian national cultural policy (NCP), now in a new phase with the delivery of Revive in January 2023. It draws on the author's experience as a theatre director, a researcher into evaluation methods, and a policy activist to reflect on the challenges facing cultural policies at the current time. If arts organizations confront tough questions about diversity and inclusion, what happened to the economic ones of market efficiency and value-add that seemed all-consuming just a few years ago? The article utilizes Max Weber's conception of “a vocation” to reconsider the aims and purpose of an NCP. As the world contends with problems of entrenched inequality, catastrophic climate change, and democratic deficit, how can cultural policies, as distinct from other kinds, address these? Should they even try?

Development of the theory of bureaucracy: the case of Russia

The article presents the problem of using the transformations in Russia of the last three hundred years as a material for creating the theory of bureaucracy, which differs from the Weber concept. This problem is being addressed through the application of concepts developed at the Rostov School of Political Science of the Southern Federal University (Russia). The conceptual apparatus is being developed to study the Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet bureaucracy in connection with the process of forming an opposition in Russia, free from the stereotypes of bureaucratic activity, behavior and thinking. Such opposition could not emerge in either monarchical, Soviet or post-Soviet Russia. The reasons are explained in the theory of bureaucracy, which contains a reconstruction of the Marx definition of bureaucracy as a social parasite organism, reflection of many social contradictions and embodiment of political exclusion. The cognitive situation in modern Russia is discussed; ways for the researcher to bypass the choices imposed on him by the post-Soviet authorities, the specifics of genesis and the structure of the police society in the country.

Called to Work: Developing a Framework for Understanding Spiritual Orientations Towards Work

Abstract This study examines how individuals understand spiritual calling to work. We draw on theoretic insights from Max Weber and Karl Marx to analyze 186 in-depth interviews with religious individuals in the United States. We argue that these classical frameworks can help us to better understand contemporary religious interpretations of calling in relationship to work. We propose a framework for categorizing ways of viewing work as a calling that consists of intrinsic/extrinsic meanings in work and goals that are proximal/distal to the workplace. While focusing primarily on Christian respondents, we note that some respondents from Jewish and Muslim traditions did not resonate directly with the term “calling” but had alternate ways of viewing their work that closely aligned with Christian conceptions of calling. We ultimately argue for the theoretical benefit of a Weberian conception of calling for contemporary understandings of how meaning is attached to work, but also highlight that seeing work as calling may be a double-edged sword because doing so may provide benefits to workers while simultaneously obscuring their own oppression.

Problematizing state capacity: the Rwandan case

AbstractWe argue that the effectiveness of Rwandan governments, both at implementing the 1994 genocide and inducing the current growth miracle, illustrates that the state has high capacity. Yet this capacity is not captured by conventional Weberian concepts, with their focus on taxation and formal bureaucracy. Rather, the capacity of Rwanda's state relies on its ability to leverage dense social networks which connect it to society. The origins of these networks lie in the construction of the historical state which expanded by merging with local lineages and kinship groups. Using data on the historical expansion of the Rwandan state as a proxy for the strength of state–society social networks we show they are uncorrelated with measures of Weberian state capacity. In a fieldwork exercise, we show that rule compliance today is positively correlated with our proxy, but uncorrelated with Weberian state capacity.

МЕЖЦИВИЛИЗАЦИОННЫЕ КОНТАКТЫ НА ДАЛЬНЕМ ВОСТОКЕ РОССИИ В XIX–XX ВЕКАХ И ТРАНСФОРМАЦИЯ ЭТНОМЕНТАЛЬНЫХ КОМПОНЕНТОВ СИСТЕМЫ ЖИЗНЕДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ

The article is devoted to the analysis of the mechanism of ethnocultural projection of European mentality, ethics, morality, trade technologies, sociocultural image of merchants, industrialists, officials, military officers, cultural workers, who influenced in the second half of 19th – early 20th centuries on the development of the Russian Far East in industrial, trade, transport, scientific, educational discourses and on the life system in general. The most significant influence on the process of development and transformation of the Far Eastern outskirts of the Russian Empire was exerted by the German settlers. The research methodology based on Max Weber's concept of entrepreneurial ethics, is based on the belief that the history and culture of the Russian Far East in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, on the one hand, are linked to the all-Russian sociocultural processes and, on the other hand, to the Far Eastern specificity that emerged as a resulting of the influence of the European mentality. The article reveals the essence, structure and functions of trade, transport, industrial companies in the Amur region, Primorye and Sakhalin. The analysis of the phenomenon of the emerged regional culture is relevant. The immigrants, The article is devoted to the analysis of the mechanism of ethnocultural projection of European mentality, ethics, morality, trade technologies, sociocultural image of merchants, industrialists, officials, military officers, cultural workers, who influenced in the second half of 19th – early 20th centuries on the development of the Russian Far East in industrial, trade, transport, scientific, educational discourses and on the life system in general. The most significant influence on the process of development and transformation of the Far Eastern outskirts of the Russian Empire was exerted by the German settlers. The research methodology based on Max Weber's concept of entrepreneurial ethics, is based on the belief that the history and culture of the Russian Far East in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, on the one hand, are linked to the all-Russian sociocultural processes and, on the other hand, to the Far Eastern specificity that emerged as a resulting of the influence of the European mentality. The article reveals the essence, structure and functions of trade, transport, industrial companies in the Amur region, Primorye and Sakhalin. The analysis of the phenomenon of the emerged regional culture is relevant. The immigrants, carriers of different ethno-cultural mental models and ethnic stereotypes of behaviour, not only transformed this territory, the surrounding world in an industrial way, but also planned its development in the long term, for what purpose they used their own financial resources and efforts to create scientific and cultural institutions: Society studying the Amur region, the East Institute, the future Far East State Technical University, they financed ethnographic expeditions. The result of the work is the author's conviction that mental attitudes have sufficient stability, a reliable basis for the development of the Far Eastern region, for a positive dialogue of cultures, for optimal adaptation of immigrants to a foreign cultural environment, to different natural and climatic conditions and regional specifics.

“STATÜ TOPLUMU”: GÖBEKLİ TEPE VE KARAHAN TEPE’Yİ TOPLUMSAL TABAKALAŞMA BAĞLAMINDA SOSYOLOJİK DÜŞÜNMEK

Göbekli Tepe and the Neolithic sites around Urfa, which were identified by surveys, provide rich data for the transition of human beings from hunter-gatherer groups to settled and semi-settled agricultural societies. It is possible to trace most of the institutional foundations of today's societies to this transition period. Social theory, which was heavily influenced by the "Neolithic revolution" paradigm, ignored this transitional period. Sociological thought categorizes societies as hunter-gatherer and agricultural societies starting from the back and moves from the axiom that hunter-gatherer societies are egalitarian and agricultural societies are hierarchical. On the other hand, archaeological studies, while addressing the hierarchical "nature" of Neolithic societies, do not sufficiently benefit from the relatively rich theoretical background of sociology. As a result, it becomes important that the two disciplines work in cooperation. This study will emphasize that egalitarian hunter-gatherer groups lived in a relatively long transition period before class-based stratification originating from the economy, and that they went through a hierarchical social order based on social prestige rather than economic inequality during this transition period. For this, Weber's concept of status, which emphasizes different inequalities, rather than Marx's conceptualization of class division based on the ownership of the means of production, will be taken into consideration. Göbekli Tepe society was a classless society, but a hierarchical society based on status. It is possible to define societies that share Göbekli Tepe culture as "status society" in which individuals and groups have prestigious status on an ideological basis. In this scenario, some people had a more prestigious position than others because they monopolized the mythological narrative that made the world meaningful, causing social differentiation. Unlike the main claim of social conflict analysis, the article will argue that the symbolic world, which expresses the social hierarchy in Göbekli Tepe culture, has important functions that enable the Neolithic lifestyle, besides providing a meaningful explanation of the social world rather than causing an exploitation mechanism against a part of the Neolithic society.

Prolegomena to a New Methodological Approach to the Pagan Divine Man (θεῖος ἀνήρ) in Late Antiquity

Abstract With this article I propose a new methodological approach in the field of pagan divine men studies in late antiquity. The “Divine Men” were the last representatives of ancient παιδεία (education) in a context where religion, education, and philosophy were inextricably intertwined. Decades of scholarly claims bring the research path towards a multidisciplinary focus in which I suggest applying the Weberian concept of charisma from a social history perspective. Thus, this preliminary research puts forward a new heuristic and hermeneutical method to better understand the social processes that those communities influenced.

Weber and Knapp on Money

This essay is an examination of Weber's extensive comments on Knapp's statist theory of money. These comments are found in an appendix to the second chapter in the first part of Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Because Weber's reflections were heavily influenced by two of the founding members of the Austrian School of economics, Menger's notion of money and von Wieser's conception of value are explored. Whereas many scholars criticized Knapp's chartist theory, Weber did not. But he did contend that Knapp's almost exclusive focus on the formal aspects of money made his theory incomplete. By examining Weber's comments on Knapp's theory, we not only learn what Weber approved of and disapproved of regarding Knapp's theory, but gain a clearer view of Weber's conception of money.

Understanding the 'New Turkey' through Max Weber's category of Caesarism

This article aims to expand upon our understanding of the historical dynamics of Weber's central but relatively underexplored category of Caesarism by showcasing its operation within contemporary Turkish politics. We illustrate how the shift from a parliamentarian to a presidential system, bestowing Turkish premier Erdoğan with unrestrained executive powers, has manifested a type of 'pure', unrestrained Caesarism that Weber associated with and criticized in Otto von Bismarck. Yet, reflecting Weber's optimism that strong parliamentarism could remedy the threats of authoritarianism, we also argue that it is possible to reverse today's negative politics in Turkey towards re-democratization. Deploying the Weberian concept of Caesarism and other related notions drawn from Weber's thought, such as parliamentarism, charisma, and plebiscitary democracy and politics, demonstrates the relevance of this category today, helps us better understand the contemporary Turkish climate, and offers pathways for its future political revitalization.

UNDERSTANDING MAX WEBER'S THOUGHTS ON CAPITALISM IN INDONESIA

Understanding Max Weber's thoughts on the life of capitalism in Indonesia is not an easy job because it requires in-depth observation in its implementation. Therefore, the problem in this study is what exactly is Max Weber's concept of the Protestant Ethic and the spirit of modern capitalism and is it still relevant to be actualized in Indonesia? The finding is that Max Weber's concept of Protestant ethics is the doctrine of predistination, asceticism, good manners, hard work, frugal living, use of time, money and wealth. The spirit of modern capitalism that is developing now is the rationalization of capitalism based on scientific principles and the development of personal wealth, production for the market, production for the masses. The relevance of Max Weber's thoughts about the spirit of capitalism applied in Indonesia is progressive because the spirit of capitalism is related to cultural values or human life. Max Weber's concept of Capitalism encourages the Indonesian people to take rationalization and innovation and be creative.

U.S. Gun Culture as a Martial Culture Within a Weberian Framework: Disrupting the State’s Monopoly on Force

This article proposes a new analytical framework to understand U.S. gun culture and its attendant cultural identifiers. It uses the Weberian concept of the state, in which the state’s monopoly on force is the basis of its legitimacy. Using this theory of the state, my key theoretical contribution is that gun culture is a contestation of the state’s monopoly on force. Relatedly, I argue that the system of cultural identifiers attached to gun culture competes with state power. In this way, gun culture asserts a devolved, local and patrimonial system of social power. I use this synthetic context of U.S. gun culture to understand theoretical issues of citizen–state relations and the role of identification in envisaging local power while offering narcissistic compensations to disenfranchised people. This descriptive theory argues that the state monopoly on force constitutes a central clause of the social contract between state and citizen, and the breach of this monopoly within gun culture challenges the contract itself. Identity and its conceptual markers, then, have a political end as a surrogate for social authority and personal-local power. This political function is hinted at but not adequately theorized in gun culture literature, certainly not using a Weberian, ‘monopoly on force’ framework. I propose that gun culture signals an antagonism within the social contract, in which citizens cede use of force to the state. This antagonism is activated in this case but theoretically latent in citizen–state relations. This article builds on the Hobbesian–Weberian premise to propose a model of Martial Culture Theory (MCT) to describe U.S. gun culture and those political movements that seek to reduce through force the state monopoly on power by diminishing its legitimacy and claiming theirs as a legitimate exercise of force.Through this process occurs a renegotiation of socio-political power distribution with the state. I submit this insight has valuable implications for state theory and citizen–state relations. In addition, it offers the most complete theory of how small government conservatism aligns with identity politics in U.S. gun culture, and how the prevailing mode of identitarian politics can manifest and be harnessed toward contestations of state power in Hobbesian-Weberian thought.

Kadijustiz in the ecclesiastical courts: Naming, blaming, reclaiming

AbstractThe article analyzes Israel's ecclesiastical court system through the prism of Weberian theory to both empirical and theoretical ends. On the empirical level, it aims to illuminate a grossly understudied socio-legal arena—the communal Christian courts in the Middle-East. On the theoretical level, it seeks to reclaim the Weberian concept of kadijustiz, which refers to “formally irrational” legal systems. In recent decades, scholars have engaged in a process of “blaming” that discredited the conceptualization of Islamic law as kadijustiz and resulted in the concept's erasure from socio-legal theory. After renaming it to the more neutral and non-Orientalist richterjustiz, we employ this new-old concept to analyze Israel's ecclesiastical courts and demonstrate its theoretical and analytical merits. The article concludes with several theoretical propositions, which draw on the empirical case study and contribute to the refinement of Weberian theory.

BIROKRASI, GOOD GOVERNANCE SERTA ARTI MAKNA PENDIDIKAN POLITIK

Realizing good governance, the Indonesian government, both central and regional, needs to immediately carry out bureaucratic reforms that are not only at the level of commitment but also at the level of real life. It is hoped that this will reduce bureaucratic pathologies such as mal-administration that leads to corruption, collusion, and nepotism. Max Weber's legal rational bureaucracy concept is actualized in Indonesia with various advantages and disadvantages as seen from the behavior of the bureaucracy. Bureaucratic behavior arises when there is an interaction between individual characteristics and bureaucratic characteristics; especially with the various issues that are developing and current law enforcement related to bureaucratic pathology. Gradually, in Indonesia, bureaucratic reform is carried out in the dimensions of institutions, apparatus resources, management, and culture/mind set. Both the central government and local governments should carry out bureaucratic reform through consistent and sustainable learning organizations, taking into account critical success factors.

Rational type of culture in the era of digitalization. On the question of the culture typology in Max Weber’s concept

The article analyzes the problem of ideal types of culture proposed by Max Weber. The phenomenon of the rational type of culture in the era of digitalization is analyzed. The historical and methodological relevance of Weber's concept of "ideal type" and his idea of the rational foundations of musical art are substantiated. The phenomenon of the digital society and the penetration of digital technologies into the sphere of culture, influencing the formation of a new cultural experience and changing behavioral and cultural preferences are considered. The article highlights the specific features of digital culture, associated with a change in such social parameters as a new perception of time, emergence of other communication forms, emergence of a certain style of people's behavior, and a change in the forms of employment of the population. The question of technical progress and its positive and negative aspects is considered, the manifestations of the socio-cultural crisis and its role in changing cultural norms in society are revealed, the role of rationality ideas in these processes is examined.