The Young Max Weber and German Social Democracy

The ‘Labour Question’ and the Genesis of Social Theory in Imperial Germany (1884-1899)

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The Young Max Weber and German Social Democracy examines the formative years of a classic social thinker once called the ‘bourgeois Marx’ from the standpoint of his relationship to the foremost working-class organization of his time. It argues that Weber’s early engagement with the standpoint of the rural worker — not his later study of the ethics of ascetic Protestant entrepreneurs — first convinced him of the central role of culture in human agency. The crisis of liberalism in a rapidly modernising, conflict-ridden Imperial Germany embarking on colonial expansion emerges in the work as the decisive setting for the genesis of Weberian social thought; the rising labour movement, in turn, as the young Weber’s little-know yet crucial interlocutor.
Copyright Year:
2022
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978-90-04-52493-4
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26 Sep 2022
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978-90-04-52442-2
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01 Sep 2022
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Front Matter
Preliminary Material
Copyright Page
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part 1 The Young Max Weber and Imperial German Politics: Between the Crisis of Liberalism and the Challenge of German Social Democracy (1884–1891/2)
Chapter 1 The Young Weber’s Diagnosis of the Political Situation in Imperial Germany (1884–5)
Chapter 2 Hermann Baumgarten and the Young Max Weber: The Ambiguous Legacy of National Liberalism
Chapter 3 The Webers and the ‘Social Question’: The German Bourgeoisie’s ‘Patriarchal’ and Gendered Engagement with the Contradictions of Modern Class Society
Chapter 4 Outgrowing National Liberalism (1887)
Chapter 5 Witness to the End of an Era: The ‘Three-Kaiser Year’, Mass Strikes and Bismarck’s Fall (1888–1891/2)
Part 2 Max Weber’s Laboratory: The ‘Rural Labour Question’ and the Genesis of Weberian Social Thought (1892–4)
Chapter 6 Contextualising Max Weber’s Dialogue with German Social Democracy: The Debate on the Worker as a Political Actor from the Pre-1848 Period to 1890s Imperial Germany
Chapter 7 Social Science Takes On Social Conflict: The Stakes behind the Surveys on the ‘Rural Labour Question’ in 1890s Imperial Germany
Chapter 8 Social Research, Agrarian Change, and the Question of Workers’ Vantage Point: The Genesis of Max Weber’s Social Theory in His Engagement with the ‘Rural Labour Question’
Chapter 9 The Standpoint of ‘State Reason’ vs. the Standpoint of the Working Class: Max Weber’s Squares Off with Social Democrats on the ‘Rural Labour Question’
Part 3 Imperialism and the Nexus of Class, Race and Culture in Max Weber’s Early Thought (1894–8)
Chapter 10 Between a Global Standpoint and a Normative Concept of Culture: Max Weber on Labour, ‘Cultural Difference’ and the World Market
Chapter 11 Breaking the ‘Solidarity of All the Ruled’: Culture and Imperialism in Max Weber’s Solution to the ‘Labour Question’
Epilogue: The Late Max Weber and the Problem of the Non-existing Alternative to Capitalism
Back Matter
Bibliography and Sources
Index
Victor Strazzeri, Ph.D, Free University of Berlin, is Project Coordinator at the Berlin Institute of Critical Theory (InkriT). His research examines the relationship between social theory and social movements and, most recently, the interweaving of communist and feminist politics.
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations

Introduction

Part 1 The Young Max Weber and Imperial German Politics: Between the Crisis of Liberalism and the Challenge of German Social Democracy (1884–1891/2)



1 The Young Weber’s Diagnosis of the Political Situation in Imperial Germany (1884–5)
 Introduction
 1 German Liberalism after 1878: Between the ‘Greek Gift’ of Universal Suffrage and Anti-Socialist Repression
 2 The 1884 Reichstag Elections and the Emerging Role of German Social Democracy
 3 The Crisis of the Liberal Parties and the ‘Right-Wing Turn’ of National Liberals in 1884

2 Hermann Baumgarten and the Young Max Weber: The Ambiguous Legacy of National Liberalism
 1 A Direct Conduit to the Dilemmas of the German Liberal Bourgeoisie
 2 German Liberalism, a Self-Critique: National Liberalism’s Foundational Manifesto of 1866
 3 ‘Realpolitik’ and Positivism
 4 ‘Realpolitik’ as Ideology

3 The Webers and the ‘Social Question’: The German Bourgeoisie’s ‘Patriarchal’ and Gendered Engagement with the Contradictions of Modern Class Society
 1 Contextualising Helene Weber’s Influence in Max Weber’s Development
 2 The Reign of the Bourgeois: Local Administration and the ‘Social Question’ in the German Lands until the 1880s
 3 Max Weber Sr.’s Patriarchal Engagement with the ‘Social Question’ in the Berlin Metropolis
 4 Monarchical Convictions and Christian Philanthropy: Helene Weber’s Social Engagement
 5 The ‘Social Question’ and National Liberal Legacy

4 Outgrowing National Liberalism (1887)
 1 From Political Commentator to Historical Actor
 2 A Balance Sheet of Liberal ‘Realpolitik’: Reflecting On the Kulturkampf amidst a Ramp Up of Repression against Socialists

5 Witness to the End of an Era: The ‘Three-Kaiser Year’, Mass Strikes and Bismarck’s Fall (1888–1891/2)
 1 Introduction
 2 Taking Stock of Bismarck’s Legacy amongst the Berlin Masses
 3 Weber’s Generation Confronts a Liberal Camp Divided between Opportunists and Fundamentalists
 4 The Resurgent Working Class: The Ruhr Miners’ Strike of 1889 and the Expansion Of State Social Policy
 5 After the Sozialistengesetz: The 1890 Elections and the Fall of Bismarck
 6 1891: Assessing a New Political Reality
 7 Conclusion of Part 1: ‘The Existence Of Social Democracy … Is Truly a Bliss’

Part 2 Max Weber’s Laboratory: The ‘Rural Labour Question’ and the Genesis of Weberian Social Thought (1892–4)



6 Contextualising Max Weber’s Dialogue with German Social Democracy: The Debate on the Worker as a Political Actor from the Pre-1848 Period to 1890s Imperial Germany

7 Social Science Takes On Social Conflict: The Stakes behind the Surveys on the ‘Rural Labour Question’ in 1890s Imperial Germany
 1 Introduction
 2 Two Surveys on the ‘Rural Labour Question’: Establishing a Manageable Basis for Comparison
 3 The Debate on the Need to Involve Workers Directly in the Surveys
 4 Subjectivity and Social Change: Weber’s Call To Engage Workers’ Standpoint (… Indirectly)
 5 In Search Of Workers’ ‘Ethical-Ideal Drivers’
 6 The Methodological (and Political) Implications of Protestant Ministers as Sources
 7 The Verein Questionnaires under Social Democrat Scrutiny

8 Social Research, Agrarian Change, and the Question of Workers’ Vantage Point: The Genesis of Max Weber’s Social Theory in His Engagement with the ‘Rural Labour Question’
 1 Max Weber and Paul Göhre: The Issue of Workers’ ‘Rightful’ Claim to Recognition and the Spectre of Social Democracy
 2 The Breakdown of ‘Patriarchal Relations’ in the German Countryside and the Changing Makeup of Its Rural Working Class
 3 ‘The Heavens and the World Market’: Agrarian Capitalism and the Growing Social Divisions in the German East
 4 The ‘Psychological Factor’: Max Weber’s Early Conceptualisation of the Immanent Logic of Social Processes
 5 Conclusion: Workers’ Standpoint and the Genesis of Weber’s Social Theory

9 The Standpoint of ‘State Reason’ vs. the Standpoint of the Working Class: Max Weber’s Squares Off with Social Democrats on the ‘Rural Labour Question’
 1 Introduction
 2 Two Generations of Political Economists Take On the ‘Labour Question’
 3 Max Weber Debates Karl Kaerger On the Role of Worker Subjectivity in the ‘Rural Labour Question’
 4 ‘Let’s Leave That for Workers Themselves to Sort Out!’: Social Democrats’ Critical Approach to the ‘Rural Labour Question’
 5 The ‘Standpoint of State Reason’ as the Young Max Weber’s Compromise between Partisanship and Objectivity
 6 Conclusion. The Imperative to Defend German Kultur: Max Weber between Worker Self-Consciousness and the Legacy of ‘Prussianism’

Part 3 Imperialism and the Nexus of Class, Race and Culture in Max Weber’s Early Thought (1894–8)



10 Between a Global Standpoint and a Normative Concept of Culture: Max Weber on Labour, ‘Cultural Difference’ and the World Market
 1 The World Market as an Inescapable Reality
 2 Max Weber’s Global Standpoint on Social Conflict and the Role of Kultur
 3 The Labour-Culture Nexus in Max Weber’s Early Thought
 4 Culture, Race and Labour: The Genesis of Weber’s Cultural Approach to Economic Activity and Its Contradictions
 5 Class and Cultural Difference in Weber’s Engagement with Workers’ Standpoint
 6 Conclusion: Xenophobia as Legitimate Class Consciousness? Weber’s Critique Of Social Democrats’ ‘Dream of Racial and Cultural Equality’

11 Breaking the ‘Solidarity of All the Ruled’: Culture and Imperialism in Max Weber’s Solution to the ‘Labour Question’
 1 Introduction: Max Weber between the Liberal Brentano and the Socialist Engels
 2 Imperialism and the Labour Aristocracy: Looking Towards Britain with Engels as Mediator
 3 Fordism as Fate? Weber’s Two-Staged Understanding of Social Conflict in the ‘Factory System’
 4 Conclusion: A Matter of (Worker) Conscience: The Role of Ideals and Kultur in Facing the Challenge of Social Democracy

Epilogue: The Late Max Weber and the Problem of the Non-existing Alternative to Capitalism

Bibliography and Sources
Index
All those interested in classical social theory and its genesis, the history of the labour movement and Imperial Germany in the nineteenth century, Marxism and critical theory.
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