Historical Sociology and Civilizational Analysis: Reclaiming Weber’s Framework

Abstract

Max Weber’s great work called Economy and Society has long been viewed as a work in “historical sociology”. Its extremely broad canvas covering contrasting developmental paths of at least four civilizations has inhibited sociologists from translating it into a research program. Still, Weber himself sketched out such a project in his “Preliminary Remarks” to his Collected Essays in the Sociology of Religion. These remarks from the last year of his life containing an agenda of research from a civilizational point of view for studying differences in the spheres of law, economy, science, technology, and politics deserve more attention than has been the case hitherto.