How do writers, marginalized by the authoritarian state in which
they live, intervene in the political process? They cannot do so
directly because they are not politicians. Other modes of
engagement are possible, however. A writer may take up arms and
become a revolutionary. Or, as Max Weber did, he may try to
influence politics by playing the role of constitutional advisor,
or by seeking to shape the dominant language in which his
contemporaries think. Weber sought to reconstitute the political
and social vocabulary of his day.
Part I of "Caesarism, Charisma and Fate" examines a great
writer's political passions and the linguistic creativity they
generated. Specially, it is an analysis of the manner in which
Weber reshaped the nineteenth century idea of "Caesarism," a term
traditionally associated with the authoritarian populism of
Napoleon III and Bismarck, and transmuted it into a concept that
was either neutral or positive. The coup de grace of this alchemy
was to make Caesarism reappear as charisma. In that transformation,
a highly contentious political concept, suffused with disapproval
and anxiety, was naturalized into an ideal type of universal
value-free sociology.
Part II augments Weber's ideas for the modem age. A recurrent
preoccupation of Weber's writings was human "fate," a condition
that evokes the pathos of choice, the political meaning of death,
and the formation of national solidarity. Peter Baehr, marrying
Weber and Durkheim, fashions a new concept, "community of fate,"
for sociological theory. Communities of fate--such as the Warsaw
Ghetto or Hong Kong dealing with the Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) crisis--are embattled social sites in which people
face the prospect of collective death. They cohere because of an
intense and broadly shared focus of attention on a common plight.
Weber's work helps us grasp the nature of such communities, the
mechanisms that produce them, and, not least, their dramatic
consequences.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!