Weber on Traditional Authority
By Iván Szelényi - Yale
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Lecture Description
Foundations of Modern Social Thought (SOCY 151)
We return to Weber's idea of domination, Herrschaft. Herrschaft has been translated into English as ''authority'' and as ''domination.'' The translation into domination highlights the elements of power and legitimacy that are co-mingled in the concept as well as the importance of the suggestion of the asymmetrical power relationship within the concept of domination. We turn to the first way leaders legitimate their authority or domination: tradition. The primary forms of traditional rule are patrimonialism and patriachialism. For Weber, the chief difference between these forms of rule is that the patriarch rules without a staff and the patrimonial leader requires a staff that obeys his authority by virtue of personal loyalty and tradition. We end with the primary tension between traditional authority and capitalism: traditional authority systems are not motivated by profit but by satisfaction of needs.
00:00 - Chapter 1. Review of Weber's Theory of Domination
14:34 - Chapter 2. Review of Three Types of Authority
21:28 - Chapter 3. Basis of Legitimacy
28:40 - Chapter 4. Patterns of Recruitment of Staff
33:58 - Chapter 5. Historical Evolution of Types of Authority
Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses.
This course was recorded in Fall 2009.
Course Description
This course provides an overview of major works of social thought from the beginning of the modern era through the 1920s. Attention is paid to social and intellectual contexts, conceptual frameworks and methods, and contributions to contemporary social analysis. Writers include Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Adam Smith, Marx, Weber, and Durkheim. This Yale College course, taught on campus twice per week for 50 minutes, was recorded for Open Yale Courses in Fall 2009.
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