Ce présent mémoire est animé par une forte conviction : les frontières disciplinaires entre les sociologues et les écrivains ne doivent pas se transmuer en barbelés obstruant un éclairage de sens renouvelé sur la réalité sociale. Alors qu’au tournant du siècle dernier, le roman réaliste et la sociologie allemande se sont mutuellement inspirés, au fil du temps les canaux de communication se sont progressivement brouillés. Notre démarche consiste donc à renouer avec la tradition du monde germanophone à l’orée du 20e siècle, période au cours de laquelle la sociologie émerge comme discipline propre. Plus précisément, nous chercherons à faire converser les deux régimes d’écriture afin d’une part, d’explorer les vertus cognitives de la littérature pour la sociologie et d’autre part de mieux comprendre comment les hommes contemporains aux premiers sociologues entrevoyaient l’époque des temps modernes. Pour ce faire, nous nous appuierons sur la sociologie de Max Weber (1864-1920), un des pères fondateurs de la discipline, ainsi que sur l’analyse de trois romans réalistes, signés par deux romanciers germanophones du début du 20e siècle, c’est-à-dire Joseph Roth (1894-1939) et Thomas Mann (1875-1955). / This master’s thesis is driven by a strong conviction: disciplinary boundaries between sociologists and writers should not be transmuted into trenches which would block a renewed sense of social reality. At the turn of the last century, realistic novels as well as German sociology were mutually inspired. However, over time, the communication channels have gradually been blurred. Our approach is therefore to revive the tradition of the German-speaking world at the dawn of the 20th century, in which period sociology emerged as its own discipline. Specifically, we will try to make interact the writing systems by exploring, on one hand, the cognitive virtues of literature in sociology and on the other hand, by trying to understand how the first contemporary sociologists men foresaw the era of modern times. In order to do so, we will rely on the works of Max Weber (1864-1920) one of the founding fathers of sociology as well as on an analysis of three realistic novels, written by two of the German novelists of the early 20th century, Joseph Roth (1894-1939) and Thomas Mann (1875-1955).

Initiée par Wolfgang J. Mommsen (1930-2004), la réception dominante de la pensée politique de Max Weber (1864-1920) conclut qu’il aura été un penseur précurseur au fascisme allemand. Ce mémoire revient aux textes politiques de Weber, écrits entre 1895 et 1919, afin de dégager le sens qu’il voulait leur conférer, indépendamment du rôle historique qu’ils purent jouer après sa mort. Il s’agit donc de reconstituer la pensée politique wébérienne dans le contexte social qui l’a vu naître et de saisir l’origine politique de la sociologie wébérienne de l’action. Pour y parvenir, un détour par l’histoire s’impose. Ce n’est que par la mise en relation, proposée dès le chapitre I, entre les écrits politiques et la configuration historique particulière de l’Allemagne wilhelmienne qu’il est possible de concilier deux dimensions dont l’une ou l’autre est souvent écartée des études wébériennes : l’étude d’acteurs historiques précis (Max Weber et ses contemporains) et la pensée wébérienne à proprement parler (les écrits). Nous verrons que Weber craint le processus de bureaucratisation inhérent à la sphère politique moderne de peur qu’il n’en vienne à pétrifier l’existence humaine. Le chapitre II examine l’opposition de Weber à cette « possibilité objective » afin de préserver les conditions d’une liberté individuelle authentique. C’est par la figure du chef charismatique, initialement développée dans le cadre de ses travaux scientifiques et présentée au chapitre III, que Weber croit pouvoir prévenir les pires conséquences du processus de bureaucratisation. Il s’agira alors de produire un édifice institutionnel propice à l’émergence de tels hommes politiques. Le dernier chapitre (IV) du mémoire cherche à démontrer comment Weber tente d’instrumentaliser la césarisation, second processus constitutif de la sphère politique moderne, pour l’opposer à la bureaucratisation. Sous le régime monarchiste, c’est par un renforcement des pouvoirs parlementaires qu’il compte y parvenir, mais la proclamation de la République de Weimar l’oblige à adapter son projet constitutionnel ; il propose alors la démocratie plébiscitaire de chef (Führerdemokratie). Si la conception wébérienne de la démocratie surprend, notamment par l’importance qu’elle accorde au chef, il n’en demeure pas moins que Weber met de l’avant un système politique démocratique. Loin de l’abandon de son projet politique auquel certains critiques ont conclu, la Führerdemokratie se révèle plutôt – c’est la thèse de ce mémoire — le fruit de la fidélité de Weber à ses idéaux politiques, et ce malgré les importants changements sociaux qui marquent la fin de sa vie. / Initiated by Wolfgang J. Mommsen (1930-2004), the dominant understanding of Max Weber’s (1864-1920) political thought concludes that it ultimately led to German fascism. This master’s thesis reflects upon Weber’s political texts, written between 1895 and 1919, in order to grasp the meaning their author intended to give them, notwithstanding the historical role these texts may have played after his passing. We will therefore reconstitute the Weberian political thought in the social context that witnessed its coming and understand the political origin of Weberian theory on social actions. To that end, we must review history. Only by establishing a relationship, as described as early as Chapter I, between political writings and Wilhelmine Germany’s specific historical configuration is it possible to reconcile two dimensions, as either is often disregarded in Weberian studies: the study of specific historical characters (Max Weber, the man and his contemporaries) et Weberian thought itself (Weber’s writings). We will see that Weber fears that the bureaucratization process inherent to the modern political sphere as it may well petrify human existence. Chapter II reviews Weber’s opposition to such an objective possibility in order to preserve the basis to a true individual liberty. According to Weber, it is through the political direction of a charismatic leader, a figure initially developed his scientific works and presented in Chapter III, that the direst consequences of the bureaucratization process can be averted. An environment favorable to such political men will then have to be institutionalized. The last chapter (IV) of this master’s thesis will demonstrate how Weber tries to use caesarization, the second constitutive process of the modern political sphere, as a means against such a bureaucratization. Under the monarchy, he intends to succeed by strengthening the parliamentary powers. However, the Weimar Republic forces him to adapt his constitutional project: hence his suggestion of a plebiscitary leader democracy. Because of the focus on the leader one might be surprised by Weber’s conception of democracy. What Weber proposes is a democratic political system nonetheless. Far from abandoning his political project, as some critics may conclude, Weber remained true to his ideals, despite the major social changes that occurred at the end of his life.

Nous présentons d'abord les travaux de la "Nouvelle sociologie économique" et décrivons la riche théorie de l'action que permet une approche en terme d'encastrement. Dans cette optique, le marché en tant que réalité identifiable disparaît pour être remplacé par des échanges marchands variés, socialement et localement construits. Nous montrons ensuite que la "Nouvelle sociologie économique" gagnerait à mieux considérer le poids des contraintes économiques liées à la participation à l'ordre marchand. Pour démontrer cette insuffisance, nous nous appuyons sur une enquête de terrain portant sur les deux organisations françaises majeures du commerce équitable, Artisans du Monde (importation, boutiques et promotion) et Max Havelaar (labellisation et promotion). Nous décrivons la façon dont les promoteurs du commerce équitable pensent, construisent et mettent en scène leur commerce « pas comme les autres ». Puis, nous montrons comment ces agents perçoivent et répondent aux obligations économiques liées à leur participation au système capitaliste. La construction d'une filière intégrée en remplacement des importations directes des boutiques, puis la création d'une filière labellisée afin d'augmenter encore les débouchés, se font au prix de renoncements douloureux. La prédiction webérienne de l'impersonnalisation et de la difficile rationalisation matérielle des activités économiques, dès lors qu'elles participent au capitalisme, se vérifie sur ce marché particulier

This thesis studies the Weberian notion of rationality in the context of speedrunning and the speedrunning community. By contrasting the instrumental rationality of the speedrunning practice with the value-oriented rationality of the community, it crystallizes the difference between "performing the metrics" as an extension of community values and as a function of externally imposed constraints. The former is an expression of autonomy, while the latter an expression of heteronomy. This difference, it is argued, is found in many different areas of society, sometimes in the guise of "audit culture", at other times as an unintended side-effect of established forms of practice. In either case, a return to communal values (e.g. the sociological imagination) is seen as an antidote to becoming an extension of someone else’s metrics; autonomy is not a function of performing to external specifications, but of being able to rationally choose which measurements to use and which to leave aside. Speedrunners, in their endeavor to go fast, express such autonomy, albeit implicitly. By analyzing YouTube videos wherein runners explain their tactics and methods, this thesis endeavors to make this aspect of autonomy ever so slightly more explicit.

Setting out from the works of Max Weber and Karl Polanyi, this chapter outlines a sociology of economic constitutionalism. The starting point is a functional definition of economic constitution as the law constituting the market order, no matter if it is public or private, national or international, official or informal law. Economic constitutionalism is understood as a system of thought, which emphasises the role of a liberal economic constitution in integrating the global economy. Adapting Weber's ideal-typical method, the economic constitution is conceived as a constitutional ideal type, next to juridical constitution, political constitution, social constitution, and security constitution. Sociologically speaking, these ideal types capture different constitutional rationalities, which are all culturally significant but not equally successful in the global age. Drawing on Polanyi's work, which exposes the self-regulating market as an artefact of economic thinking, the argument proceeds by highlighting the constitutive role of economics in constructing the law of the globalised market society. After economic law came to be embedded in national welfare states in the twentieth century, economic constitutionalism furthers the opening up of national laws and economies. In contrast to the rule of law, the rule of the market is inherently transnational in character.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The aim of the dissertation is the process of rationalization in Max Weber, specifically social rationalization, not referring only to the institutionalization of the state and the company, but the institutionalization of the University as legitimate core of science. And in cultural terms do not restrict the differentiation and autonomy of the spheres, but the process by which science and its values extend beyond its institutional boundaries through scientific rationalization. Our object will then be the decision-making process that enables the discussion and critique of values, the formation of a modern consciousness, the sociological significance of the city and urban culture, the communicative record that we can glimpse in the unfinished work of the sociologist; therefore carefully analyze the Weberian decisionism and its historically determined forms that are accompanied in modernity by the ethics of responsibility. / O objetivo da dissertação de mestrado é o processo de racionalização em Max Weber, especificamente a racionalização social, não referente unicamente à institucionalização do Estado e da empresa, mas a institucionalização da Universidade como núcleo legítimo da ciência. E no plano cultural não nos restringiremos à diferenciação e autonomização das esferas, mas ao processo pelo qual a ciência e seus valores se estendem para além de seus limites institucionais através da racionalização científica. O nosso objeto será então o processo decisório que se viabiliza pela discussão e crítica dos valores, a formação de uma consciência moderna, a significação sociológica da cidade e da cultura urbana, no registro comunicativo que podemos vislumbrar na obra inacabada do sociólogo; portanto, analisaremos detidamente o decisionismo weberiano e suas formas historicamente determinadas, que se fazem acompanhar na modernidade pela ética da responsabilidade.

Socialt arbete är vad man skulle kunna kalla ett relativt ungt fenomen och ett organiserat arbete mot sociala problem är i Sverige inte mycket äldre än 100 år gammalt. Med det sagt kan man förstå att det sociala arbetets karaktär är under ständig förändring, och förhoppningsvis förbättring. De senaste decennierna har dock socialt arbete präglats av en ny förändringstrend. En privatiseringstrend. Som nyexaminerad socionom är valen av arbetsgivare fler än vad de var för 30 år sedan och alternativen skiljer sig åt. Syftet med denna uppsats är således att undersöka hur den snart nyexaminerade socionomen uppfattar de olika alternativen, som en eventuell arbetsgivare men också rent generellt. Studien är utformat efter kvalitativ metod med ett induktivt förhållningssätt och bygger på fyra olika intervjuer med fyra stycken snart färdigutbildade socionomer. Som teoretiskt ramverk ligger Max Webers teori om byråkrati i idealtypiska termer som grund för arbetet, samt teorin om handlingsutrymme. Tack vare användandet av tematisk textanalys kunde vissa likheter och teman urskiljas ur informanternas utsagor och resultatet kom att skildra en på många sätt homogen uppfattning av brister och risker med olika arbetsgivare. Samtliga informanter talar om en byråkrati som riskerar växa sig för stor för att fungera effektivt, och på ett rättvist sätt. Mot såväl klienter som anställda inom organisationen. Weber talade i pessimistiska termer om hur framtiden skulle komma att tillhöra byråkratin, en uppfattning som han delar med samtliga informanter. Uppfattningen är att en organisation som växer sig för stor, kommer att behöva arbeta på ett ytterst rationellt sätt rent byråkratiskt. Slutsatsen är att en rationell byråkrati inte är förenligt med ett rättvist socialt arbete gentemot klienten eller, återigen, den anställde. / Social work is what one could call a relatively young phenomenon and an organized work against social problems in Sweden is not much older than a century. That being said, one can understand that the nature of social work is under constant change, and hopefully improvement. However, in recent decades social work has been characterized by a new trend of change. A privatization trend. As a newly graduated social worker today, the alternatives to employers are more than they were 30 years ago and the alternatives differ. The purpose of this thesis is thus to investigate how the soon-to-be-graduated social worker perceives the different alternatives, as a possible employer, but also generally. The study is designed according to a qualitative method with an inductive approach and is based on four different interviews with four social work bachelors. As a theoretical framework, Max Weber's theory of bureaucracy in ideal-typical terms lies as the basis for the work, as well as the theory of scope for action. Thanks to the use of thematic text analysis, some similarities and themes could be distinguished from the informants' statements, and the result was to depict, in many ways, a homogeneous perception of deficiencies and risks with different employers. All informants talk about a bureaucracy that risks growing too large to function effectively, and in a fair way. Towards both clients and employees within the organization. Weber spoke in pessimistic terms about how the future would belong to the bureaucracy, a view that he shares with all the informants. The perception is that an organization that grows too large will have to work in an extremely rational way bureaucratically. The conclusion is that a rational bureaucracy is not compatible with a fair social work towards the client or, again, the employee.

Patočka and Modernity Jakub Homolka Abstract: This thesis deals with the work of Jan Patočka (1907-1977), probably the most important Czech philosopher of the twentieth century, and with his understanding of modernity. More precisely, the thesis focuses on Patočka's work from the perspective of contemporary civilizational analysis, which leads our attention especially to Patočka's dialogue with the work of the German sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920). The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part introduces Patočka's work in general; it summarizes the situation of Patočka's heritage, subsuming existing findings and future challenges. The second part discusses the perspective of civilizational analysis, a subdiscipline of contemporary historical sociology, and explains the link between this field of research and Patočka's work. Finally, the third part presents an interpretation of Patočka's work which emphasizes the very perspective of civilizational analysis: the focus is on Patočka's dialogue with Weber's work, which is most notably expressed in the philosopher's idea of "rational civilization". In this way, the thesis contributes to the existing interpretations of Patočka's work as well as to the discussions of the theoretical concept of civilizational analysis. Key words: Jan Patočka; Max Weber;...

This paper explores the curriculum of the Swedish social science course Samhällskunskap 1 b. This is done by analyzing the curriculum in question combined with semi-structural interviews of five teachers, exploring their experiences in teaching the course. The paper applies theories associated with street-level bureaucracy, originally from Michael Lipsky. The premise of the study is that teachers are bureaucrats who must follow a specific curriculum. The study concludes that the theories of street-level bureaucrats are applicable to the situation of social science teachers in their relation to the curriculum. The study also concludes that the interviewed teachers all interpret the curriculum in slightly different manners. This could in turn be seen as a possibility for the individual teacher to adapt the course to suit a range of students, as well as something that potentially threatens the fundamental reasons of a curriculum.

Patočka and Modernity Jakub Homolka Abstract: This thesis deals with the work of Jan Patočka (1907-1977), probably the most important Czech philosopher of the twentieth century, and with his understanding of modernity. More precisely, the thesis focuses on Patočka's work from the perspective of contemporary civilizational analysis, which leads our attention especially to Patočka's dialogue with the work of the German sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920). The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part introduces Patočka's work in general; it summarizes the situation of Patočka's heritage, subsuming existing findings and future challenges. The second part discusses the perspective of civilizational analysis, a subdiscipline of contemporary historical sociology, and explains the link between this field of research and Patočka's work. Finally, the third part presents an interpretation of Patočka's work which emphasizes the very perspective of civilizational analysis: the focus is on Patočka's dialogue with Weber's work, which is most notably expressed in the philosopher's idea of "rational civilization". In this way, the thesis contributes to the existing interpretations of Patočka's work as well as to the discussions of the theoretical concept of civilizational analysis. Key words: Jan Patočka; Max Weber;...