Max Weber and postmodern theory

rationalization versus re-enchantment

Nicholas Gane

This book explores the contemporary nature of Max Weber's work by looking in detail at his key concepts of rationalization and disenchantment. Thematic parallels are drawn between Weber's rationalization thesis and the critiques of contemporary culture developed by Jean-Francois Lyotard, Michel Foucault and Jean Baudrillard. It is suggested that these three 'postmoden' thinkers develop and respond to Weber's analysis of modernity by pursuing radical strategies of affirmation and re-enchantment. Examining the work of these three key thinkers in this way casts new light both on postmodern theory and on Weber's sociology of rationalization.