XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 15-21, 2018)

372

Patrimonialism: Max Weber's Ideal Type Model Revisited

RC20 Comparative Sociology (host committee)

Language: English

Max Weber's pure type of "traditional authority" as opposed to "goal-rational, formal-legal authority" focuses on Patriarchy and Patrimonialism. Patrimonialism is Patriarchy writ large. A Big Man or Chief is a Patriarch in a village or tribe. But a Patrimonial ruler had legitimate authority in a larser political and economic entity. One state system with Patrimonial authority prior to modern capitalism is the traditional Patrimonial Empire. The literature concerning authoritarian regimes today does not take into account the "vestiges" of Patrimonial rulership prior to modern captialism. Even with the emergence of modern capitalism in the sixteenth century most European overseas empires tended to still stress Patrimonial rulership in their imperial states. What is very important to consider is the oscillation of prebendal and feudal aspects of Patrimonial rulership not only in China and India but also in Europe. It is not a matter of "Oriental Despotism" or the "Asiatic Mode of Production." Weber correct Marx on this point while nevertheless also still benefitting from the importance of studying the political economy of any social system. Weber was not a cultural determinist. His ideas concerning Patrimonialism are political economic theoretical ideas. Neo-patrimonialism is a term that Eisenstadt used and some students of Africa have referred to African states as neo-patrimonial, meaning that they are neither completely Patrimonial nor completely democratic.The new Collected Works of Max Weber (MWGA) re-arranges Weber's manuscripts in a way that is different from the editorial work done by Marianne Weber and Johannes Winckelman after Max Weber's.