Max Weber is a social scientist who sought to understand the formation of the modern world based on the political, social, and intellectual distinctiveness of 19th-century Germany, analyzing this process with original concepts. Concepts such as “authority typology,” “routinization of charisma,” “disenchantment of the world,” “rationalization,” “bureaucracy,” and “capitalism” form the cornerstones of Weber’s analyses of modernity. These theoretical tools are still among the fundamental approaches used not only to understand his own era but also to analyze today’s political and administrative structures.

Life and Education

Max Weber was born on April 21, 1864, in Erfurt, a city belonging to the Kingdom of Prussia. He grew up in a bourgeois and intellectual family; his father was a liberal politician, and his mother was a religious and cultured woman. Weber began to show interest in classical texts and historical works at a young age, and this intellectual inclination manifested itself in his education.

He began his university education in 1882, studying law at Heidelberg University. After three years there, he transferred to Berlin University. In Berlin, he focused on law, economics, and history; during his studies in Berlin, he also successfully completed the necessary examinations for practical civil service. In 1886, he began his doctoral studies in law, completing his doctorate in 1889 with his thesis titled Die Entwicklung des Solidarhaftprinzips und das Sonderrecht der Kaufleute (The Development of the Principle of Joint and Several Liability and the Special Law of Merchants).

In 1891, Weber entered academia by writing his habilitation thesis, becoming a professor at Freiburg University in 1894, and then moving to Heidelberg University in 1896, where he was appointed professor of political economy. However, due to a profound psychological crisis he experienced after his father's death in 1897, he took a long break from his academic work. From 1903 onwards, he returned to intellectual productivity, writing his most important works after this date.

General Approach

Max Weber's intellectual framework, while nurtured by the specific conditions of the German political and economic structure, offers theoretical explanations of modernity at a universal level. His sociological approach is one that pays attention to historical particularities but also aims to reach societal generalizations from these particularities. In this context, Weber's method is open to both idealist (interpretive) and positivist influences. The "ideal type" theory is a typical example of this approach: conceptual tools developed to analyze specific historical phenomena.

Weber's approach to historical events, through what he called "elective affinity" (Wahlverwandtschaft), seeks to reveal the interactive relationship between two social or cultural elements. In this way, he was able to explain the connections between structures such as the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, or capitalism and bureaucracy.

Theories and Concepts

Typology of Authority

One of Weber's best-known contributions is his theory dividing legitimate authority into three ideal types:

Charismatic Authority: The authority of leaders with extraordinary personal qualities. It is the source of historical transformations but is not permanent. As it becomes institutionalized, it transforms into either traditional or legal authority.
Traditional Authority: Derives its legitimacy from sacred rules passed down from the past. Patrimonialism and feudalism are subtypes of this form of authority.
Legal-Rational Authority: Derives its legitimacy from written rules and law. Bureaucracy is the institutional manifestation of this form of authority.

Routinization of Charisma

Charisma, according to Weber, is the greatest revolutionary force. However, it cannot be permanent and over time transforms into rational or traditional structures. This process of transformation leads to the desacralization of charismatic leadership and the emergence of a new form of governance.

Disenchantment of the World and Rationalization

In modern society, the dominance of reason pushes back traditional and charismatic structures. Weber calls this process the "disenchantment of the world." Rationalization, on the other hand, means the increase of calculability, order, and rules in every aspect of life.

Bureaucracy and Capitalism

According to Weber, bureaucracy is the most rational form of administration in modern society. It is characterized by specialization, hierarchy, written rules, and impersonal relationships. There is a strong elective affinity relationship between capitalism and bureaucracy: bureaucracy provides the rational basis necessary for the sustenance of the capitalist mode of production, while capitalism provides the economic means necessary for the development of bureaucracy. Therefore, the rational modern society, in which capitalism and bureaucracy evolve together, increasingly traps individuals in an "iron cage."

Politics, State, and Authority

According to Weber, politics encompasses all behaviors involving the domination of one person or group over others. The state, on the other hand, is a human community that claims the monopoly of legitimate physical violence within a given territory. Authority is based on the acceptance of this violence as legitimate.

In Weber's approach to politics, economic and political behaviors are conceptually separated; however, in practice, they are intertwined. The relationship of domination operates on the plane of commanding and obeying; the legitimacy of this relationship is explained by the typology of authority.

Important Works

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism: Published in 1905. Its original title was Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus. It is the author's fundamental work relating the emergence of capitalism to the Protestant ethical understanding.

Economy and Society: The work was completed and published by Weber's wife in 1921. It is the fundamental text presenting Weber's most comprehensive theoretical framework in the field of sociology. It contains theoretical building blocks such as the typology of authority, types of social action, and class and status distinctions.

Politics as a Vocation: Published in 1919. It offers an analysis of modern politics, leadership, authority, and the nature of the contemporary state. The ethical responsibility of the politician and their relationship with power are questioned.

Science as a Vocation: Published in 1919. It contains ideas on the nature of scientific work, the place of science as a profession in modern society, the principle of value-freedom, and the moral responsibility of the intellectual.

The City: Published in 1921. It offers a historical and comparative analysis of the formation of modern cities by relating them to the development of political and economic structures.

Basic Sociological Concepts: Published in 1922. It is a work that lays out the conceptual foundation of Weber’s sociological thought. It includes key concepts such as the ideal type method and types of social action.

Weber's works reveal not only the definitions of concepts such as modernity, authority, bureaucracy, capitalism, and social rationalization but also their interrelationships. He is considered one of the founders of modern political sociology and public administration. Today, discussions in both sociology and political science literature are still frequently shaped with reference to the framework laid out by Weber.

Death

Max Weber died on June 14, 1920, in Munich, due to the Spanish flu. Weber, who was 56 years old at the time of his death, passed away shortly after contracting the illness. In the last period of his life, he was working on his comprehensive work titled Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft (Economy and Society), completing various sections of the book. However, the final compilation and publication of the work were carried out by his wife, Marianne Weber, after his death. His death left his ongoing contributions to sociology and social sciences incomplete, but the theoretical legacy he left behind has maintained its influence for subsequent generations.