ABSTRACT
Some neo-Weberians, like sociologist Martin Spencer, have expanded Max Weber’s ideas about the legitimacy of authority. This chapter looks at other criticisms made against Weber. It analyzes the comments advanced by several neo-Weberians on what is perhaps the most glaring problem in Weber’s sociology of law, the England problem. In Weber’s view, a correspondence exists between a logically formal rational system of law, which provides calculable and predictable judicial outcomes, and market exchange capitalism, which relies on such outcomes to ensure efficient contractual relations and guaranteed rights. The chapter shows how the neo-Weberian scholars explain the rise of a highly rational economic activity in a country with a highly irrational system of law. The chapter concludes by looking at how certain scholars have analyzed, critiqued, and extended Weber’s concept of legitimacy, his “England problem,” and his dialogue with the ghost of Karl Marx.
