Rationalization and the Status of Gender Divisions

Bibliographic Data

ID2326009
AuthorsJ J R Thomas, Joshua Thomas (corresponding author)
Year1985
Volume19
Issue3
Pages409-420
Publication date1985-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0385 • E-ISSN: 1469-8684
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0038038585019003005
OpenAlexW2055001998
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited4

What position did Max Weber take in relation to gender differences and the feminist movement? The work of both Max and Marianne Weber is examined in relation to this question. Both argued that the 'original' household had been a patriarchal one rooted in force. Therefore, the subsequent development of marriage and inheritance law, religious and secular ethics and the growth of the capitalist enterprise from the household should all be understood as limitations on patriarchy and thus potential 'mother-rights'. There are close parallels here to his account of the decline of status as a mode of the social division of power. Both Max and Marianne Weber adopted a non-socialist feminist position, arguing that the expansion of the capitalist market, and the accompanying processes characterized by him as 'rationalization', were themselves responsible for the decline of the household and the progressive emancipation of women. However, this emancipation was one that led to a state where instrumental criteria of expediency would progressively dominate personal and sexual relationships

Division of labour · Economics · Emancipation · Gender relations · Inheritance (genetic algorithm) · Parallels · Patriarchy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Power (physics) · Rationalization (economics) · Sociology · Gender Studies · Law · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory

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