Understanding Weber

Whimster, Sam

doi:10.4324/9780203030561

Cited by 59 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…Looking at Weber's work from this angle, it is clear that his genetic or causal claims are based on a sensitive treatment of symbolic phenomena that amounts to nothing less than scientific scholarship that is both historical and sociological. Sam Whimster (: 56–57) lends support to this view regarding Weber's approach, drawing attention to the exemplary argument in “Luther's Conception of the Calling” (Weber, : 99–109) that is based purely on textual exegesis and analysis of meaning. Weber seeks to map the course and consequences of this peculiar ethic – the typical pattern of meaningful behavior oriented to the increase of capital – as it relates both to the individual actions and the larger structures or institutions characteristic of modern capitalism.…”

Section: Symbolically Constituted Reality: Max Weber and The Fundamenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This view of Weber's concept of action is consistent with the one he set forth in the Logos essay of 1913 wherein he argues that the “individual [as the agent of meaningful behavior] and his action” are treated as the most basic unit or “ atom ” (Weber, : 158 – my emphasis; cf. Gerth and Mills, : 55; Graber, ; Oakes, ; Whimster, : 251–252; and, Weber's letter to Robert Liefmann of 9 March 1920 quoted in Whimster, : 263; cf. Turner, ).…”

Section: Symbolically Constituted Reality: Max Weber and The Fundamenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Weber seeks to map the course and consequences of this peculiar ethic – the typical pattern of meaningful behavior oriented to the increase of capital – as it relates both to the individual actions and the larger structures or institutions characteristic of modern capitalism. Implicitly drawing attention to the elementary importance of action, Whimster writes, “sociology is ‘individualistic’ Structures, classes, regimes, orders, value spheres all feature, unavoidably, in Weber's sociology, but not as social objects or things The operation of ‘structures’ (Weber's Gebilde ) is denominated in the motives, meaning, thinking and actions of individuals ” (2007: 266; my emphasis). The ethic is, from this perspective, considered a force that is simultaneously outside of or external to particular individuals insofar as it conditions the context of action (e.g.…”

Section: Symbolically Constituted Reality: Max Weber and The Fundamenmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the Centrality of Action: Social Science, Historical Logics, and Max Weber's Legacy

Malczewski¹

2014

J Historical Sociology

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This article draws attention to the fundamental centrality of "action" -i.e. symbolically constituted behavior -for the historical and social sciences. The work of Max Weber and contemporary American historian and theorist William H. Sewell, Jr. are examined, so as to shed light on the debate concerning social science's central subject matter as well as on the implications of this work for sociological and historical theory. The examination of Sewell's view leverages the importance of the concept of action underlying Weber's concept of "social action." Weber's position on action and social action is of great interest not only to general theory but also to the field of cultural sociology, which has neglected to develop systematically upon the theoretical purchase Weber offers to it.

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Section: Symbolically Constituted Reality: Max Weber and The Fundamenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Symbolically Constituted Reality: Max Weber and The Fundamenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Symbolically Constituted Reality: Max Weber and The Fundamenmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

On the Centrality of Action: Social Science, Historical Logics, and Max Weber's Legacy

Malczewski¹

2014

J Historical Sociology

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“…There was no alphabet, nor any files, which in Innes's terminology are the technology of communication of modern bureaucracy. Or, to make another large argument, Weber's Protestant ethic thesis can more profitably be understood as the emergence of the twinned technologies of European vernacular languages and printed books (Whimster, 2007;pp. 198-203).…”

Section: Pernicious Memes and Donald Trumpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pure Relationality as a Sociological Theory of Communication

Whimster

2018

Front. Sociol.

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In order to explain the success of populist politicians use of social media, we need to subtract the social from relationality and separate social relationships from network theory applications. A pure theory of relationality is suggested by Werner Heisenberg's breakthrough in quantum mechanics. It is argued that sociology, to its detriment, has failed to incorporate a theory of communication, one adequate to the explosion of social media and the recent rise of populist politics, here instanced by Donald Trump. Realizing the underlying importance of communication technology in all social relationships, and treating these two aspects in a complementary fashion, is the purpose of this essay in sociological theory.

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“…The mystery of predestination produced an almost mandatory state of personal anxiety. John Calvin himself described this theology as ''terrifying'' (Lessnoff, 1994, p. 6; see also Rotenberg, 1978;Whimster, 2007). For those devoted to this sort of predestination, there was a single, melancholy result: a feeling of unimaginable inner loneliness of the solitary individual.…”

Section: Alienated Individualism and Competitive-egotismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rich, Blessed, and Tenured: A Homological Exploration of Grant Writing, Prosperity Theology, and Neoliberalism

Winslow

2015

Western Journal of Communication

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The emergence of grant writing as a primary method of evaluating faculty accountability formally resembles the discursive structures of prosperity theology. Using the rhetorical homology, I identify a common interpretive framework underpinning both discourses. The points of homological correspondence include: 1) Alienated individualism and competitive-egotism; 2) Individual accountability to the market as a measure of personal worth; and 3) Justification of the market paradigms. I trace the features of this homology to neoliberal modes of governance.Communication scholarship aimed at illuminating the discursive processes that influence an audience below the critical radar often pays close attention to how content is sorted into patterns. For example, when we experience media, forms of narrative, or figures of speech in a formally parallel way, we are organizing content into patterns that influence how we respond to our social world (Brummett, 2004;Burke, 1968;Fiske, 1983;Olson, 2002; Osborne 1977). These formal patterns are especially revealing when the structures that give coherence to a text branch out and extend beyond the object of analysis. It is in these cases when seemingly fanciful and distant texts can speak to immediate social experiences (Brummett, 1988).

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Understanding Weber

Cited by 59 publications

References 0 publications

On the Centrality of Action: Social Science, Historical Logics, and Max Weber's Legacy

On the Centrality of Action: Social Science, Historical Logics, and Max Weber's Legacy

Pure Relationality as a Sociological Theory of Communication

Rich, Blessed, and Tenured: A Homological Exploration of Grant Writing, Prosperity Theology, and Neoliberalism

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