From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology

In spite of the real differences between them, Weber and Marx sometimes seem to have more in common than is often acknowledged. American social scientists' deification of Weber and limited interest in Marx has given short-shrift to the conflictual nature of social life as Weber understood it. In the process, they have also given short-shrift to the commonalities between these two classical theorists. This book helps to clarify the relationship between Weberian and Marxist social theory. As a practical matter, with regard to historically specific phenomena, it sometimes seems that Weber tacitly shared Marx's assessment of the antagonistic relationship between capital and labor. This is especially apparent when Weber is playing the inherently ironic role of a determinedly disinterested value-free social critic. For example, when Weber visited the United States in 1905, he was interested in studying the peculiarly intense form of American capitalism. Located at Washington University in St. Louis, Weber became interested in the large, privately owned transit system that provided transportation for people throughout the city. Weber learned that the system had fallen into a bad state of disrepair, and serious accidents were commonplace. The owners of the system had two choices: repair and update the horse-drawn trolleys that moved people from place to place. Or continue to pay damages to passengers who were badly injured and to the families of those who were killed. A cost-benefit analysis showed the latter choice to be less expensive, and so the decision was made. For Weber, this was an obvious outcome: capitalists minimizing costs and maximizing profits, just as their social roles specified. Weber's contemporary Werner Sombart who was favorably disposed to Marxist social theory, found much the same when he studied coal mining in relatively developed capitalist countries, including the U.S. Accidents resulting in injury or death occurred at a much higher rate in U.S. mines than in mines located in European countries. This led Sombart to conclude that American capitalism was, indeed, an especially intense sort, one in which rational calculability in pursuit of profit was practiced with a vengeance. For those of us who lived through the the 1970's and 1980's such stories may have a familiar ring. The Ford Pinto was an inexpensive and popular subcompact. It's design, however, was flawed in that the gas tank, located in the back of the car, was likely to explode if the car were rear-ended Ford knew about this design flaw, but according to the company's cost-benefit calculations, it would cost less to pay off victims of exploding gas tanks (or their survivors) than to redesign the Pinto. So the design flaw stayed in place, and again, rational calculability in dollar terms took precedence over other condiderations. In spite of their commonalities, however, Weber spoke in terms of organized structures of domination, such as that which

Meticulously translated, this collection of essays is a great place to start for a person only familiar with Weber's seminal work "The Protestant Ethic". I found the essays to be very readable, and Weber's unique style makes it a joy to read. This is a great place to start for anyone interested in beginning to study sociology.

Gerth and Mills' reader provides an excellent introduction to Weber's life and thought. This edition includes excerpts from _Economy and Society_, the brilliant essays ``Politics as a Vocation'' and ``Science as a Vocation,'' plus a brief critical biography and material from other sources.Weber had so much to say about so many subjects that any anthology would require a well-considered method of organization; this book has that. It is easy to navigate. When I want to know what Weber said about a particular subject, I look in _From Max Weber_.