ABSTRACT
Economy and Society was Max Weber’s attempt to provide a system of categories which could serve as guides to empirical sociological analysis. Weber’s categories have been so used. The majority of sociologists working on questions of politics, economics, law or religion probably regard Weber’s categories and types as the best means of organisation and classification of their fields currently available. The general thesis of this book is that classifications of social forms are dependent on and products of specific social theories. Weber’s classifications and categories are no exception. In the following chapters we will specifically concern ourselves with Weber’s types of legitimate domination and sociological categories of economic action as presented in Economy and Society. It will be argued that these classifications and categories are a part of theoretical discourse. The logical consistency of this discourse and implications of these categories for the analysis of social relations will be considered.
