Max Weber Matters: Interweaving Past and Present

This volume clearly communicates the exciting manner in which Max Weber's texts and ideas continue to matter to sociology and to the analysis of historical and contemporary societies. That the influence of Weber is of great significance to the history of social science and to appreciating the theoretical work of others is also strikingly conveyed. In addition to constituting a valuable record of the background to the Heidelberg Centenary Weber conference in 1964 and the planning of the full English translation of Economy and Society, it also explores the centrality of the interweaving of past and present not only in Weber's own sociology but also in the hermeneutic task of reading and applying Weber today. Insightful and timely, this book is comprised of topical and innovative work, which discusses with Weber very much in mind a range of historical and contemporary questions, including: the controversy surrounding the Da Vinci code, the understanding of the legitimation of the police in 19th century London and New York, the charismatic role of martyrs, nuclear weapons strategy in a post-cold-war age, the affinity between Hindu belief systems and disenchanted computer science, the significance of Weber's ideal typical procedures for Adorno and Merleau Ponty, the need to extend Weberian sociology to include analysis of meaning in texts and the similarity and differences between Weber and thinkers as diverse as Veblen, Habermas and Leo Strauss.With its focus on both the practical application of Weber's thought to contemporary cultural and political questions, as well as his philosophical legacy, Max Weber Matters will be of interest to scholars across a range of disciplines, including historians, sociologists, political scientists and social theorists.