Max Weber's Politics of Civil Society [Paperback]

An in-depth interpretation of Max Weber as a political theorist of civil society.This book is a fresh interpretation of one of the greatest political and social thinkers of the modern era--Max Weber. He is well-known as the founding father of the modern social sciences; less frequently recognized is his contribution to the modern political thought. Kim argues that Weber's political thought was deeply informed by some of the most critical questions in modern political thought, especially the question of public citizenship in a mass democracy and civil society as its cultivating ground.This book is a fresh interpretation of one of the greatest political and social thinkers of the modern era--Max Weber. He is well-known as the founding father of the modern social sciences; less frequently recognized is his contribution to the modern political thought. Kim argues that Weber's political thought was deeply informed by some of the most critical questions in modern political thought, especially the question of public citizenship in a mass democracy and civil society as its cultivating ground.Although well-known as the founder of the modern social sciences, Max Weber is less frequently recognized for his contributions to political thought. This book is an original interpretation of his thinking. Sung Ho Kim argues that Weber, one of the great political theorists of modern times, was deeply influenced by some of the most critical questions in modern political thought, especially the question of public citizenship in a mass democracy and civil society as its cultivating ground.Acknowledgements; Part I. Of 'Sect Man': The Modern Self and Civil Society in Max Weber: 1. Agency, citizenship and civil society; 2. Reading Weber: between politics and science; 3. In search of the Protestant ethic thesis; 4. Outline of the argument; Part II. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Individualism: 5. Introduction: 'the last of our heroisms'; 6. 'A rationalization toward an irrational l£