Review Essay of: Max Weber, Gesamtausgabe. Abteilung I: Schriften und Reden, Band 22-1: Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Die Wirtschaft und die gesellschaftlichen Ordnungen und Mächte. Nachlass, Teilband 1: Gemeinschaften. Edited by Wolfgang J. Mommsen in collaboration with Michael Meyer, Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck) 2001, 402 pp.Rezension des Werkes: Max Weber Gesamtausgabe I/22-1: Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Die Wirtschaft und die gesellschaftlichen Ordnungen und Mächte. Nachlass, 1. Gemeinschaften (ed. Wolfgang J. Mommsen in collaboration with Michael Meyer; Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 2001), pp. xxvi + 402. ISBN 3-16147558-5 (hb)

Lichtblau, Klaus

English

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[MWS 3.2 (2003) 233-2471 ISSN 1470-8078 Book Reviews Mnx Weber's  Tzoo Sociologies Mas Welxer  Gesnrrr2.nrrsgabe I/22-1:  Wirtdrrnft  und Gesellscluift. Die  Wirfscluifl zilrd  dic gesel1sclrnftlliclrL.n Ordni~ngc~r  und MMitc. Nnclilnss, 1. GerrreirisclrnJten (ed. Wolfgang J. Moinnicen in collaboration with Michael Meyer; Tübingen: J.C.B. Molu Faul Sie- beck], 2001), py. xxvi + 402. ISBN 3-16147558-5 (hb). The iiew edition of 'Economy and Society' in the Mgs Weber  Gewrrrtmsgnk raices questions hat  remuid us of a long liistory of  coiitroversy. Ainong these are the ques- tioii of  wlietlier 'Econoiny and Cociety' is at all the correct title for the texts assembled uncler this name, ~m~i  of  whether these texts form a uiiitary work, and if so, whether this is tobe  Seen as Weber's prhlcipal sociological opus. The editors of  the Gesnwitnus gnlie have Ixeii at great paliis to resolve this difficult puzzle. It has never been dispitted that Weber did not oi$&diy iiitend these texts to be a free-staiickg pttblication. insteaci' they were tobe a contribution  to his own CO-eclited liandbook, Uie  'Outline of  Socid Economics'. This collaborative project, involving numerous authois under Welwr's  general eclitorial cürection, as agreed with his Tübingen publisher Paul Siebeck i.111909,  was to give a compreliensive overview of the contemporary state of reseaith nmcing memkrs of  the Germanliistoricalscl~ool  of political econoiny.  We now know that Weber wrote two quite distinct versions of  his contribution to tliis 'Outline';  an earlier version dating frorn before the First World War, contained in the N~clrlnss,  and a later version from 1919-20 which Weber prepared for final printing shortly before his death. Mailanne Weber then supple- mented the first four chapters of  this definitive  version of  'Economy andcociety' with the texts she found  inher husband's  Naclrlnss, thereby sigruficantly contributing to the niyth of  a single unitary work (Moilmuen 2000). The editors of  the Gesanifausgnbe lliave set out to definitively correct tliis lugh- ly c~uestionable  eclitorial practice by pubhhing the earlier and later versioiis of 'Economy arid Society' in two separate volumes, each carrying a different subtitle. They have thereby sought to underline the fact that two quite clistinct versions of Weber's contribution to the 'Outline of  Social Economics' have been hancied down to us, of  which Weber prepared only the latter version for final printing. The status of lhe Lexts in  the Nnclilnss must thercfore be regarded as to this extent still unciarified. Five sub-volumes are planned for the Nnclilnss  of  'Economy  and Sociev in the Gesni~tfaiissnbe,  together with a volume of editorial  iiotes. Of  these, tl~e  sub-volumes 'Gemeiiwcha€teiif (MWG I/22-I), 'Religiöse Gemeinschaften' (MWG I/22-2) and'Die Stadt' (MWG I/22-5) have so  far appeared. The sub-volume 'Gemeinschaften',  edited by Wolfgang J. Mommsen in collabo- QThe  ContiiiuuniPublisl~g  Group Ltd 2003,The Tower Building 11  York Road, LoiidoiiSEl7NXand 15  East 26th Street, Suite 1703, New York, NY  10010, USA. Mnx Weber Shrdies ration with Michael Meyer, carries partidar significance because it comprises the first texts Weber wrote for his work on the 'Outline',  presumably in 1910-12. But it  is also of interest because the separate publication of  these texts as a subvolume goes against a thesis recently put forward by  Hiroshi Orihara. Orihara (1999; 2003) contends that nt lenst tlze Nnchlnss of  'Economy and Society'  is an'integral whole',  and that this unity should be the leading consideration for publication in the Gesnrirtnus- gnk. Orihara emphasizes the importance of  the interml references between these posthumous texts which allow us to reconstruct their original sequence of  com- position. Further, he argues that the essay Weber published separately in 1913, 'On Some Categories of  Interpretive Sociology',  is an iriseparable component of  the Nnclilnss for 'Economy and Society'  because it  was in  this essay that Weber defined the basic sociological concepts he employed inhis posthumous texts. It was also for this reason that several passages from the essay were included in  the English edition of 'Economy  and Society'  under the title 'Types of  Social Action and Groups'-to familiarize uninitiated readers with Weber's terminology (Weber 1978: 1375-80). In contrast, the  Gecnnztniisgnbe  edition seeks to  demonstrate the fragmentary character of  the Nnclilass, viewing as meaningless  any search  for a 'heab to the whole Corpus. Wolfgang J. Mommsenhas eschewed including  the 'Categories' essay of  1913 in the 'Gemeinschaften' sub-volume, without denying  its fundamental importance  for Weber's understanding of  sociology.  His reason for this is that Weber heavily revised the originalversion of  the essay between the end of  1912 and the beginning of  1913, so that it is more appropriate that the essay be published in another volume devoted to Weber's  methodological writings. Another omission is the text 'The Economy and Social Nom' (Weber 1978: 311-39), whichis equdy  importantfor our understanding of  the basic sociological concepts Weber deployed at this time. This will appear in sub-volume 1122-3, together with the chapter on the soaology of  law in 'Economy and Society', on the grounds  that Weber himself later intended an arrangement of this kind in his publication plans for the sociology of  law. The selection and sequence of texts in 'Gemeinschaften' are based on two criteria, which Orihara also underlines: first, fidelity to the structure of  intemal references between individual texts and, second, fidelity to the 'Plan  of  the Entire Project',  or 'Disposition1 (Einteilzing des Gewinhuerkes), as printed in the first volume of  the 'Outline'  from June 1914, which shows Weber's  intended division of  contents for his own contribution at this time (Mommsen 2000: 377). In line with these criteria, the 'Gemeinschaften'  volume consists of  the foilowiiig texts: 'The  Economic Relatiomhips of  Organized Groups'  (Weber 1978: 339-56), 'Household, Neighborhood and Kin Group' and 'Household, Enterprise and Oikos' ('Hausgemeinschaften')  (Weber 1978: 356-85), 'Ethnic Groups' (Weber 1978: 385-99), 'The  Market: Its Irnpersonality and Ethid (Weber 1978: 635-40), 'Political  Com- munities' (Weber 1978: 901-10), 'Power  Prestige and the "Great Powers"'  (Weber 1978: 910-26) and 'The Distribution of Power within the Political Community: Class, Status and Partyr (Weber 1978: 926-40). These are d  texts familiar from previous editions of  'Economy  and Soaety'  which have now been purged of  errors and supported withnumerous informative commentaries that considerably  facilitate our understanding. The only truly new item is the keyword manuscript 'Hausverband, Sippe und Nachbarschaft',  which probably dates from as early as 1906 but whose exact context of  composition cannot  be determined with certainty. In this previously unpublished manuscript, topics are discussed that later found their way into the O The Continuum  Publishing  Group  Ltd UM3. Book Reviezus  235 chapter On  'Hausgemeimchaften'  (divided into two different  chapters by  md Wittich) (Weber 1978: 356-85),  and these topics are also treated extemively in Mariame Weber's book fiom1907, Eliefratr und Mutter iiz der&cllfsenhr,ickltrng ('Wife and Mother in the Development of Law'). The chapter on the sociology of religion from  the Nachlnss, however, is not included in  this volume. It is published separately as 'Religiöse Gemeinschaften' (MWG I/22-2) because its scope and contents clearly stretch beyond the framework of  the present volume, What is the relationship of these early texts to the other Parts of  'Econorny  md Society'? Anci what is the conception of  sociology they express? In his Introduction, Wolfgang J.  Moinmsen distinguishes three distinct phases of  Weber's  work for 'Economy arid Societf: the period of  1910-12 for  the early texts on'GemeinsChaftenf; the period of 1913-14 for the sociology of  religion, the sociology of  law and the earlier version of  the sociology of domination; and the period of  1919-20 when Weber began to revise his contribution to the 'Outline of  Social Economics' and prepared the first four chapters of  'Economy and Society' for printing. Mommsen maintains that the early texts are still ovenvhelmingly concemed with the thematic of  'Gemeinschaft'. He argues that Weber's  intention at this time was to give a fully comprehensive representation of  ail the main  form  of  commdty  and their relatiomhip to economy, and that it was only in the second phase of  1913-14 that the idea of  the rationalization of  all spheres of  life became the central theme. He holds that this shift  is  recognizable in the fact that it was not until this second phase that Weber made full use of  the terminology of  the basic sociological concepts laid out in the 'Categories'  essay from 1913. In the texts from the first phase, the central concepts are still Genreinsclurfi ('community'),  Gerizeinscl~~stslrnndeln  ('communal  action')  and  Vergenleinscluiftilrng ('forrnation  of  community'), whereas in the second phase the emphasis shifts to the counterparts of  Gesellsclmfl ('formation of  assoaationr),  GesellscI~ftslrnizde1n  ('societal action') and Vergesellsclrnfhrizg ('societal association'), Mommsen interprets this as an anticipation of  Weber's  later use of  language in the definitive version of  the 'Basic Sociological  Terms' from1919-20, where Weber redefines the terms Geriieinsclwfi and Gesellsdrnft previously usedby Ferdinand Tönnies. Mommseninsists, however, that in his later work Weber did not fundamentally ahr  the understanding of  sociology reached in his second phase, which is also why the 1913 'Categories'  essay may be seen as anticipating the definitive version of  his verstehende Soziologie from 1919-20. Thus Mommsen here contributes a new thesis to Weber scholarship. While pre- vious interpreters have been of  the view that Weber's 'Basic Sociological Terms' of 1919-20 are not identical with those of  the 'Categories'  essay, Mommsen relativizes the conceptual and terminological innovatiom of  Weber's  third phase. Instead, he strongly differentiates  the early texts On'Gemeinschaften' fromthe texts of  the 1913- 14  period. However, it can be argued that he differentiates them too sfrongly. Strictly speaking, his argumentation implies not only three different phases of  work for the 'Outline'  but also three different conceptions of  cociologi~  relevant to 'Economy and Society'-as  Stefan Breuer (2002) has suspected. This appears to me to be an over- dramatization of  the cüfferences of  Weber's pre-war mmuscripts.  Mommsen is  right to say that Weber's work on the sociology of  religion, law arid dominationrepresents a development beyond the 'Gemeinschaften' texts. This is undoubtedly true of the universal-historical perspective expounded in Weber's work on religion, law and domination. However, it  is not true of the basic sociological  terms Weber used at this time because in his first phase Weber  already made use of  the termuiology he O T11e  Continuum Publishing Group Ltd 2003. 236  Max Weber Shidies developed later in the 'Categories'  essay. Gen~einsclulf-terminology  is certainl~  more present inthe early texts than Gesellscl~nft-terminology,  but this is only because Weber at this time still used the terms Genreinscluzff, Genreinsclmffznncleln and Vergerrreiiz- sclinfhing in  a  quite neutral sense as generic concepts,  while using the  terms Gesellxluzft, Gesellsclmfishiideln and Vergesllsclinfiing muchmore  narrowly to refer to different manifestations of  a process of  rationalization of  social life. This was the perspective Weber had in mind already inhis doctoral dissertation  of  1889 when he sought to explain the emergence of  independent trading companies in the Middle Ages in terms of  a particular historical  form of  development  of  the Hntisgenzeiizsclulft. in the text on'Hausgemeinschaftenl in the Nnclzlncs, Weber speaks of  two different universal-historical developmental  forms of  the original house comunity:  the oikos, which leads to patrimonial domination, ancl the capitalistic firm. The former repre- sents the economic basis of  a specifically  traditional form of  domination, whereas the latter marks the transition to modern econornic forms of  need-fulfilment. in  his early 'Gemeinschaften' texts, then, Weber definitely did propound develop- mental historical sequences reaching across different epochs-evenif he didnot do so in as differentiated and elaborated a form as  in his sociology of  religion, law and dominationfrom1913. Indeed, inhis  Introduction, Mommsenhimselfnotes  that these early texts still  belong within the tradition of  nineteenth-centuy  evolutiomry  thought and the tradition of  theories of  stages in political economy-even  though Weber avoided every form of  dogrnatic philosophy of  history and only ever spoke of different developmental possibilities at  particular times under particular conditions. Guenther Roth (1987) has rightly interpreted this universal-historical outlook in Weber's  work as a specific variant of  the kind of  'developmental history'  (Entillick- hingsgescliiclite) that enjoyed inteliectual  popularity around Weber's  time inGerman- speaking countries. The basic sociological concepts of  the 'Categories'  essay rely on this developmental-historical  framework to the extent that they describe the relation between Gcnieinsclurftsluzncleli~  ('communai  action'), Einz~erstrind~iislü~ncleln  ('consensual action') and Gesellsclurftsurndelrr ('societal action') in terms of  a process of  increasing rationalization of  social life. In my  view, therefore, these basic concepts and the developmental-historical  framework underlying them represent the real connecting link between the individual texts of  the Nncltlnss of  'Economy  and Society',  even though Weber altered their scope over time (Lichtblau 2000). The decisive change in the development of  Weber's  contribution  to the 'Outline of Social Economicsr must be sought in a different place from the one adduced by Mommsen. in fact, the change is tobe found inthe 'Categories' essay itseif.  The essay divides into two distinct parts: an eariier 'terminological'  part, which Weber sub- sequently heavily revised for his verstellende Soziologie (Weber 1985: 44-74), and a later 'methodological'  part, which he placed at the beginning (Weber 1985: 427-40). These two parts embody two different variants of  Weber's  sociology: an earlier 'developmental-historical' variant, and a later 'individualist' variant that anticipates the 'Basic  Sociological Terms'  of  1919-20  and that has come to be known in the secondary literature under the rubric of  'methodological individualism'. In addition, we must assume that those parts of  'Economy  and Society' which Weber wrote between 1910 and 1914 do not yet foliow the premises of  this 'methodological in- dividualism' but rather follow the concept of  'developmental history'.  This also seems to be  the reason why Weber incorporated the methodological reflections of  the O The Continuum Publishing Group Ltd 2003. Book Reviews  237 'Categories' essay without change in  1919-20 but both completely redefined his basic sociological concepts and began to revise the eariier part of  'Economy and Sonetf. Thus the question often discussed by secondary commentators as to why Weber did not follow the principles of methodological individualism in the earlier part of 'Economy and Society' can only be answered  by means of  an analysis of  thehistory of his texts -  which the Gesnatnusgnbe has now made possible. The new critical edition will probably not resolve aii substantive problems of Weber scholarship, since until his death Weber constantly had a tendency to 'lapse back'  into developmental-historical  figures of  thought (for example in his Munich lecture onJGeneral  Econornic History' and inhis essays onthelEconomic  Ethics of  the World Religions'). But it is difficult to say what is 'progress' and what is 'regression' here. In the history of the discipline  these issues are thoroughly contested and  relative. Certainly we shouldnot succumb to the temptation to dicsolve Weber's life-workinto wholly philological questions. But we must learn to distinguish the two variants of Weber's sociology as they are expressed in  the eariier and later versions of  'Economy and  Society'. This is not primarily an editorial task; it  is aninterpretive  task. Yet itis a task  that wiil  only be  accomplished satisfactorily with  the  publication of  the remaining sub-volwnes of  'Economy and Society' in the Mnx Weber Gesnnitnusgnhe. Klaus Lichtblau University of  Bielefeld Translated by Austin Harrington Bibliography Breuer, S. 2002  'Ein neuer Band der Weber-Gesamtausgabe',  Neue Ziiricher Zeihag 114,21 May 2002. Lichtblau, K. 2000  '  "Vergemeinschaftung' und "Vergesellschaftung" bei Max Weber. Eine Rekonstruktion seines Sprachgebrauchs', Zeitscllnftfiir Soziologie 29: 42343. Mommsen, W.J. 2000  'Max Weber's "Grand Sociology": The Origins and Composition of Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Soziologie', Histoiy nnd 771eonj39:  364-83. Orihara, H. 1999  'Max  Webers Beitrag zum "Grundriss der Sozialökonomik": Das Vorkriegsrnanuskript als integriertes Ganzes',  Kölner ZeitscTmflflir Soziologie zind Sozinlpsychologie 51: 724-34. 2003  'From "A Torso with a Wrong Head" to "Five Disjointed Body-Parts without a Head": A Critique of  the Editorial Policy for Mnx Weber Gesnmfnusgnbe  1/22', Mnx Weber Shrdies 3.2 (this volume). Roth, G. 1987  'Rationalization in Max Weber's Developmental History',  in Sam Whimster and Scott Lash (eds.),Mnx Weher,  Rntiosnlify nnd Moderriify (London: Men  & Unwin): 75-91. O Tl~e  Continuum Publisliing Group Ltd 2003. 

Ein neuer Band der Weber-Gesamtausgabe',

From &quot;A Torso with a Wrong Head&quot; to &quot;Five Disjointed Body-Parts without a Head&quot;: A Critique of the Editorial Policy for Mnx Weber Gesnmfnusgnbe 1/22', Mnx Weber Shrdies 3.2 (this volume).

Grand Sociology&quot;: The Origins and Composition of Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Soziologie', Histoiy nnd 771eonj39:

Max Webers Beitrag zum &quot;Grundriss der Sozialökonomik&quot;: Das Vorkriegsrnanuskript als integriertes Ganzes', Kölner ZeitscTmflflir Soziologie zind

Rationalization in Max Weber's Developmental History',

Vergemeinschaftung' und &quot;Vergesellschaftung&quot; bei Max Weber. Eine Rekonstruktion seines Sprachgebrauchs', Zeitscllnftfiir Soziologie

Die beiden Soziologien von Max Weber

Die beiden Soziologien von Max Weber

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