Weber’s Nationalism vs. Weberian Methodological Individualism: Implications for Contemporary Social Theory

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15826/csp.2019.3.2.066

Abstract

Most contemporary sociologists’ aversion towards nationalism contrasts with the alleged nationalist views of one of the key classics of sociology, Max Weber. The considerable accumulated scholarship on the issue presents a unified belief that Weber was indeed a nationalist yet varies considerably in the significance attributed to the issue. Most authors entrench Weber’s nationalism within biographical studies of Weber’s political views as an individual beyond Weberian sociological theorizing. A different approach suggests that the notions of nationality in Weber’s works do have certain theoretical value as potentially capable of enriching the current understanding of the nation. The present article aims to bring together the notions of nationality dispersed within Weber’s various writings with the Weberian methodological individualism. The main argument of the article is that individualism and nationalism in Weber’s thought are not a contradiction despite the collectivism associated with the essentialist view of the nation. Instead, they represent a reflection of the fundamental shift from an earlier view of society as a meganthropos towards the pluralist problematization of the micromacro link definitive for the modern social theory. Analyzing the internal logic of this change provides new insights into the currently debated issue of retraditionalization, especially in relation to the ongoing renaissance of nationalism.

Author Biography

Marharyta Fabrykant, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia and Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus

Marharyta Fabrykant is a Senior Research Fellow at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, and an Associate Professor at the Belarusian State University, Minsk. Her research focuses on nationalism and national identity in comparative cross-cultural perspective, with a special focus on Eastern European nation-building. Her most recent publication include: Fabrykant, M. (2019). Russian-speaking Belarusian Nationalism: An Ethnolinguistic Identity Without a Language? Europe-Asia Studies, 71(1), 117-136; Fabrykant, M., & Magun, V. (2019). Dynamics of National Pride Attitudes in Post-Soviet Russia, 1996–2015. Nationalities Papers, 47(1), 20-37.

References


  • Anderson, B. (2012). Introduction. In G. Balakrishnan (Ed.), Mapping the Nation. London: Verso.

  • Anderson, P. (1992). Zone of Engagement. London: Verso.

  • Ay, K. L. (2004). The Meaning of Honour in Weber’s Concept of the Nation. Max Weber Studies, 4 (2), 221–233.

  • Bärenbrinker, F. & Jakubowski, C. (1995). “Nation” und “Nationalismus” seit dem Deutschen Kaiserreich: Eine begriffsgeschichtliche Untersuchung anhand von Handbüchern. Archiv für Begriffsgeschichte, 38, 201–222.

  • Bellamy, R. (1992). Liberalism and Nationalism in the Thought of Max Weber. History of European Ideas, 14 (4), 499–507. DOI: 10.1016/0191-6599(92)90182-C

  • Dahrendorf, R. (1992). Society and Democracy in Germany. Gregg Revivals.

  • Durkheim, E. (1970). “L’individualisme et les intellectuels”. In La Science Sociale et L’Action. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

  • Engelbrekt, K. (2009). What Carl Schmitt Picked Up in Weber’s Seminar: A Historical Controversy Revisited. The European Legacy, 14 (6), 667–684.

  • Fichte, J. G. (1978). Reden an die deutsche Nation. Hamburg: Meiner.

  • Hobsbawm, E. J. (2012). Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality. Cambridge University Press.

  • Hübner, K. (1991). Das Nationale. Verdrängtes, Unvermeidliches, Erstrebenswertes. Graz, Wien, Köln: Styria.

  • Kedar, A. (2010). Max Weber, Friedrich Naumann and the Nationalization of Socialism. History of Political Thought, 31(1), 129–154.

  • Kim, S. H. (2002). Max Weber’s Liberal Nationalism. History of Political Thought, 23 (3), 432–457.

  • Meinecke, F. (2015). Cosmopolitanism and the National State. Princeton University Press.

  • Meyers Konversations-Lexikon (4. Auflage). (1888). 12. Band. Leipzig und Wien: Bibliographischen Instituts.

  • Mommsen, W. J. (1974). Max Weber und die deutsche Politik, 1890–1920. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.

  • Norkus, Z. (2004). Max Weber on Nations and Nationalism: Political Economy before Political Sociology. Canadian Journal of Sociology/Cahiers Canadiens de Sociologie, 29 (3), 389–418. DOI: 10.2307/3654673

  • Palonen, K. (2001). Was Max Weber a “Nationalist”? A Study in the Rhetoric of Conceptual Change. Max Weber Studies, 1 (2), 196–214.

  • Pfaff, S. (2002). Nationalism, Charisma, and Plebiscitary Leadership: The Problem of Democratization in Max Weber’s Political Sociology. Sociological Inquiry, 72 (1), 81–107.

  • Renan, E. (2002). What is a Nation? In S. Woolf (Ed.), Nationalism in Europe: From 1815 to the Present (pp. 54–66). London: Routledge.

  • Roth, G. (1993). Between Cosmopolitanism and Ethnocentrism: Max Weber in the Nineties. Telos, 96, 148–162.

  • Simmel, G. (1999). The Stranger. In G. Lemert (Ed.), Social Theory: the Multicultural and Classic Readings (pp. 184–189). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

  • Simmel, G. (2004). The Philosophy of Money (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.

  • Sombart, W. (1915). Händler und Helden. München: Duncker & Humbolt.

  • Sombart, W. (2001). The Jews and Modern Capitalism. Kitchener: Batoche Books.

  • Weber, M. (1921). Gesammelte Politische Schriften. München: Drei masken Verlag.

  • Weber, M. (1922). Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Tübingen: Mohr Paul Siebeck.

  • Weber, M. (1978). Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

  • Weber, M. (1994). Political Writings (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought). Cambridge University Press.

  • Wiedebach, H. (2012). The National Element in Hermann Cohen’s Philosophy and Religion. Leiden: Brill.

Published
2019-06-30
How to Cite
Fabrykant, M. (2019). Weber’s Nationalism vs. Weberian Methodological Individualism: Implications for Contemporary Social Theory. Changing Societies & Personalities, 3(2), 124–138. doi:10.15826/csp.2019.3.2.066
Citation Formats
Issue
Vol. 3, No. 2 (2019)
Section
Articles