Max Weber’s Conception of “Rationalization” and the 21st Century

Bibliographic Data

ID12874331
AuthorsW Outhwaite (0000-0002-6599-9826, Newcastle University, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume18
Issue2
Pages16-27
Publication date2019-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSotsiologicheskoe Obozrenie / Russian Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1728-192X • E-ISSN: 1728-1938
PublisherNational Research University, Higher School of Economics (HSE) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.17323/1728-192x-2019-2-16-27
OpenAlexW2953994680
LanguageEN
References cited18

Weber’s concept of “rationalization” is rightly seen as the core of his mature thought. At the same time, there has been increasing attention to his “ambivalence” towards the rationalization of economic, administrative and political process-es, and of the conduct of life altogether. The themes of his nationalism and the irrational tendencies of his complex personality have also become increasingly prominent. While nationalism may not be per se irrational, any nationalist is logically compelled (at least in principle) to recognize the legitimacy of other - possibly opposed - nationalisms. Weber attempted to avoid this paradox of nationalism by stressing the particular responsibility of larger states, albeit with the problematic concept of the “Herrenvolk.” This article explores Weber’s nationalism and current nationalist and populist tendencies, in the light of his conception of sovereignty, democracy and plebiscitary leadership (Führerdemo-kratie). “Sovereignty,” I suggest, has become a shibboleth in the twenty-first century, notably in the US, Russia, Tur-key, Hungary and Poland, and in the current debacle in the UK. Although Weber uses the word “sovereignty” very rarely, the concept is at the centre of his sociology of the state and also, I suggest, of his conception of rationalization. There is a parallel with his use of the term “nation.”

Ambivalence · Democracy · Economics · Epistemology · Ideology · Irrational number · Legitimacy · Legitimation · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Psychoanalysis · Rationalization (economics · Sociology · Sovereignty · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Philosophy · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Psychology · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory