Max Weber (1864-1920) was a German sociologist who made major contributions to social theory. He was interested in contemporary social policy and economics. Some of his key concepts included bureaucracy, rationalization, and verstehen. Weber is best known for his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, which linked Protestantism to the rise of capitalism. He believed modern society was becoming increasingly rationalized and bureaucratic, trapping people in an "iron cage." Weber's work influenced later sociologists and emphasized understanding social action from the actor's point of view.

1. Max Weber
1864-1920
Katie Geneser
Hayden George

2. Background
 Born 1864, Thuringia
 Father was wealthy civil servant who was highly involved
in both politics and academics
 For Christmas one year he wrote two analytical essays to
give to his parents as gifts
 Attended law school
 Spent some time in the military

3. Background
 In 1893 he married Marianne Schnitger a feminist
activist and author
 Took a job as a professor eventually ending up at the
University of Heidelberg

4. Early Work
 Early on took an interest in contemporary social
policy
 Felt that the role of economics was the primary
source of solving social problems

5. Influences
 Strongly influenced by German Idealism
 Linked romanticism and Enlightenment politics
 Kant, Freud, and Simmel
 Strongly influenced by Marx’s ideas of socialism and
active politics
 Differed on the idea of utopian society

6. Concepts and Contributions
 Bureaucracy
 Pre-conditions
 Growth in space and population
 Growth in complexity of the administrative tasks being carried out
 Existence of monetary economy, requires a more efficient
administrative system

7. Concepts and Contributions
 Bureaucracy
 Communication and transportation policies make more efficient
administration possible
 Hierarchical organization
 Delineated lines of authority in a fixed area of activity
 Rules are implemented by neutral officials, not the power elite
 Advancements depend on technical qualifications from organizations
not individuals
 Can be a threat to individual freedom

8. Concepts and Contributions
 Rationalization
 “The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and,
above all, by the ‘disenchantment of the world’”
 Instead of the power elite holding society back, it is the laws,
rules and regulations capitalism requires
 Curtails people’s freedoms and traps them in bureaucratic
society
 Process is less welcome of individualism and “dehumanizes
people”

9. Concepts and Contributions
 Rationalization
 Zweckrational (i.e., formal) rationality. The rationality of
means-ends relationships, wherein an identifiable goal is
sought by pursuing reasonably defined means.
 Wertrational (i.e., substantive) rationality. The rationality of
non-goal oriented behavior, wherein behavior is pursued
independently of the prospects of success.

10. Concepts and Contributions
 Verstehen
 German word for interpretive understanding
 Looking at society from your own point of view rather than
from that of the indigenous culture
 How people give meaning to the social world around them
 Gives a subjective understanding about individual and group
behavior

11. Concepts and Contributions
 The Protestant Ethic
 The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905)
 Emphasizes hard work, frugality, and prosperity as a display as
a person’s salvation in the Christian faith
 Societies that are more Protestant tend to be more
bureaucratic than capitalist and to Weber this is a good thing
 Workers are more likely to be devoted to their craft and are
less alienated

12. Views on Society
 Bureaucratic Society
 Rather than capitalism or communism, Weber thought society
should be run through a system of well organized institutions
 Society can be understood through empirical observation
rather than quantitative research
 Power is not just in the hands of the elite

13. Relevancy
 Influenced Parsons, Habermas, and many others
 Presented sociology as the “science of human social
action”
 Developed antipositivism; stressing the differences
between social and natural sciences
 Weber Bureaucracies: showed how there are
bureaucratic elements of every part of society

14. Limitations
 His specific explanations for society in his time are
hard to generalize for other circumstances in society
 Failed to see all the positive aspects of rationalization
and deemed society to be doomed and trapped in an
“iron cage” of its own making
 Bureaucratic features of Weber’s ideal society might
actually be inefficient (argued by Merton)