The Theory of Social and Economic Organization

446 Pages·1947·17.355 MB·English

by  Max Weber, Talcott Parsons (ed.)

MAX WEBER: The Theory of
Social and Economic Organization

MAX WEBER: The Theory of Social and
Economic Organization o o TRANSLATED BY
A. M. HENDERSON TALCOTT PARSONS
AND
EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY TALCOTT PARSONS
THE FREE PRESS
GLENCOE, ILLINOIS·
&
WING PHSS
TW~ ~AL<ON'S
COPYRIGHT i947 BY OXFORD UNIVIDl.SITY PIU!.Ss, NEW YoRK, INc.
All rights reserved
No portion of this book may be reprinted, with
out written permiss10n, in iiny form except for
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PRINTED IN nm UNITED STATES OP AMERICA
Preface
THE volwne herewith presented to the English-speaking public is a trans
lation of Part 1 of M~x Weber's Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, which was
in turn originally published as Volume m of the collaborative work
Grundriss der Sozialoekonomik, in the planning of which Weber played
a major role. Its relation to Weber's work as a whole is explained in
the editor's Introduction. It is, however, relatively self-contained so as
to appear suitable for separate publication in translation. The choice of
an English title, for which the editor is wholly responsible, is meant to
designate this independent significance.
The project for publication of this translation antedates the war. Its
origin lay in a draft translation of Chapters I and II which was made by
Mr. A. M. Henderson for Messrs. William Hodge & Co. Ltd. of London
and Edinburgh. The present editor undertook, at the publisher's request,
to revise and edit this draft. It was originally planned that Mr. Henderson
would submit drafts also of Chapters m and iv, but his war service pre
vented this. Hence the present translation of the first two chapters is a
rather free revision of Mr. Henderson's draft; the translation of the third
and fourth chapters is wholly the editor's. Mr. Henderson has had no
opportunity to see the final version, so entire responsibility for departures
from his draft must be taken by the editor.
Publication has been long delayed by difficulties created by the war.
I can only express my admiration for the persistence of the English pub
lishers in continuing to adhere to the enterprise in spite of these diffi
culties and in bringing it to final fruition, and for their tolerance in
publishing a fundamental work by an enemy national at such a time.
We can, however, agree that the universality of science transcends even
the conflict of war. The American edition has been reprinted from the
page proofs of the English.
Besides the aid given by Mr. Henderson's draft, I should like to ac
knowledge the help derived from a draft translation of Chapter 1, Sec
v
vi PREFACE
tion 1, by Alexander von Schelting and Edward Shils, which the authors
kindly put at my disposal. A number of my professional colleagues, nota
bly the late Professor Edwin F. Gay and Professor Robert K. Merton,
made valuable criticisms of the manuscript translation and the Introduc
tion at different stages. I should like also to acknowledge the assistance
of Mr. Bernard Barber and Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood Dean Fox in prep
aration of the index, and of Mr. Ozzie G. Simmons in correction of the
proof.
Finally I should like to record my gratification that this translation does
not stand alone in bringing to the English reader some of the more com
prehensive and fundamental works of Max Weber. There has also re
cently appeared, published by the Oxford University Press, a volume of
selections from Weber's most important sociological writings translated
and edited by Hans Gerth and C. Wright Mills.
TALCOTT PARSONS
Cambridge, Massachusetts
24 March 1947
Contents
PREFACE, v
INTRODUCTION
I. The Author and His Career, 3
II. Weber's Methodology of Social Science, 8
III. Weber's 'Economic Sociology,' 30
IV. The Institutionalization of Authority, 56
V. The Modern Western Institutional System, 78
I. Tm;; FUNDAMENTAL CoNCEPTs OF SocroLOGY, 87
I. The I2din.i.ti._ons of Soci~ and of Social Action, 88
2. The Types o~ri\ction, II5
3. The Concept of Social Relationship, n8
4. Modes of Orientation of Social Action, 120
5. The Concept of Legitimate Order, 124
6. The Types of Legitimate Order, 126
7. The Bases of Legitimacy of an Order, 130
8. The Concept of Conflict, 132
9. Types of Solidary Social Relationships, 136
IO. Open and Closed Relationships, 139
r I. Representation and Responsibility, 143
12. The Concept of 'Corporate Group' and Its Types, 145
13. Types of Order in Corporate Groups, 148
14· Types of Order Governing Action in Corporate Groups, 150
15. Types o[ Organization and of Corporate Groups, 151
16. Power, Authority, and Imperative Control, 152
17. Political and Religious Corporate Groups, 154
II. SocIOLOGICAL CATEGORIES OF EcoNDMIC AcnoN, 158
I. The Concept of Economic Action, 158
2. The Concept of Utility, 164
3· Modes of the Economic Orientation of Action, 166
4· Typical Measures of Rational Economic Action. 168
5· Types of Economic Corporate Groups, 171
vii
viii CONTENTS
6. Media of Exchange, Means of Payment, Money, 173
7. The Primary Consequences o~ the Use of Money. Credit, 179
8. The Market, 181
9. The Formal and Substantive Rationality of Economic Action, 184
ro. The Rationality of Monetary Accounting. Management and Budget-
ing, 186
11. The Concept and Types of Profit Making. The Role of Capital, 191
12. Calculations in Kind, 202
13. The Formal and Substantive Rationality of a Money Economy, 2II
14. Market Economies and Planned Economies, 212
15. Types of Economic 'Division of Labour,' 218
16. Types of the Technical Division of L"1lbour, 225
17. Types of the Technical Division of Labour (cont.), 227
18. Social Aspects of the Division of Labour, 228
19. Social Aspects of the Division of Labour (cont.), 233
20. Social Aspects of the Division of Labour (cont.), 238
21. Social Aspects of the Division of Labour (concluded), 245
22. The Expropriation of Workers from the Means of Production, 246
23. The Expropriation of Workers from the Means of Production
(cont.), 248
24. The Concept of Occupation and Types of Occupational Structure,
250
24A. The Principal Forms of Appropriation and of Market Relation
ship, 254
25. Conditions Underlying the Calculability of the Productivity of
Labour, 261
26. Types of Communal Organization of Labour, 265
27. Capital Goods and Capital Accounting, 267
28. The Concept of Commerce and Its Principal Forms, 268
29. The Concept of Commerce and Its Principal Forms (cont.), 270
29A. The Concept of Commerce and Its Principal Forms (concluded),
272
30. The Conditions of Maximum Formal Rationality of Capital Ac
counting, 275
3r. The Principal Modes of Capitalistic Orientation of Profit Making,
278
32. The Monetary System of the Modern State and the Different Kinds
of Money, 280
33. Restricted Money, 289
34. Paper Money, 291
35. The Formal and Material Value of Money, 292
36. Methods and Aims of Monetary Policy, 294
36A. Critical Note on the 'State Theory of Money,' 299
p,;-
Tlle Non-Monetary Significance of Political Bodies for the Eco-
,, ,J nomic Order, 309
CON'I'ENTS
38. The Financing of Political Bodies, 310
39. Repercussions of Financing on Private Economic Actlvity, 315
40. The Influence of Economic Factors on the Organization of Cor
porate Groups, 318
4t. Motives of Economic Activity, 319
'.
III. THE TYPES oF AuTHORITY AND IMPERATIVE Co-ORDINATION, 324
r. The Basis of Legitimacy, 324
1. The Definition, Conditions, and Types of Imperative Control, 324
2. The Three Ptire Types of Legitimate Authority, 328
n. Legal .Authority with a Bureaucratic Administrative Staff, 329
3. Legal Authority: The Pure Type with Employment of a Bureau
cratic Administrative Staff, 329
4. Legal Authority: The Pure Type with Employment of a Bureau
cratic Administrative Staff (cont.), 333
5. The Monocratic Type of Bureaucratic Adm_inistration, 337
m. Traditional Authority, 34r
6. Traditional Authority, 341
7. Traditional Authority (cont.), 342
7A. Gerontocracy, Patriarchalism, and Patrimonialism, 346
8. Modes of Support of the Patrimonial Retainer, 35I
9. Dec~ntralized Patrimonial Authority, 352
9A. The Relations of Traditional Authority and the Economic Order,
354
1v. Charismatic Authority, 358
IO. The Principal Characteristics of Charismatic Authority and Its
Relation to Forms of Communal Organization, 358
v. The Routinization of Charisma, 363
II. The Routinization of Charisma and Its Consequences, 363
12. The Routinization of Charisma and Its Consequences (cont.), 367
12A. The Routinization of Charisma and Its Consequences (concluded),
369
12B. Feudalism, 373
12C. Feudalism Based on Benefices and Other Types, 378
13. Combinations of the Different Types of Authority, 382
VI. The Transformation of Charisma in an Anti-Authoritarian Direction, 386
14. The Transformation of Charisma in an Anti-Authoritarian Direc
tion, 386
x CONTENTS
vn. Collegiality and the Separation of Powers, 392
I5· Collegiality and the Separation of Powers, 392
I6. The Functionally Specific Separation of Powers, 404
17. The Relations of the Political Separation of Powers to the Eco
nomic Situation, 406
vm. Parties
I8. The Concept of Parties and Their Features, 407
IX. Types of Government of Corporate Groups Which Minimize Imperative
Powers; the Role of Representation, 412
Ig. Anti-Authoritarian Forms of Government, 412
20. 'Amateurs' or 'Non-Professional' Types of Administrative Person
nel, 413
x. Representation, 416
21. The Principal Forms and Characteristics of Representation, 4I6
22. Representation by the Agents of Interest Groups, 421
IV. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AND CLASS STRUCTURE, 424
l. Concepts, 424
I. The Concepts of Class and Class Status, 424
2. The Significance of Acquisition Classes, 426
3. Social Strata and Their Status, 428
INDEX, 431