Ideal type

About: Ideal type is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 400 publications have been published within this topic receiving 8012 citations.

Max Weber: Precursor of economic sociology and heterodox economics?

Abstract: I Introduction MAX WEBER IS UNDOUBTEDLY one of the most fascinating and important social scientists of the last century. In this paper we will ask to what degree can Weber's contributions to the basics of social science analysis and methodology be regarded as a milestone for modern economic sociology and a basis for a heterodox economic paradigm, and if we can get some constructive suggestions for present research from his research agenda. (1) Our thesis is that Weber's outline and research program is not really helpful for present-day economic sociology and heterodox economics because Weber had a rather narrow understanding of rationality and the economy. He did not consider the heterodox underpinnings of, for example, the Austrian school (uncertainty, human agency, etc.) in his programmatic contributions. Another answer to these questions is provided in the optimistic interpretation of Eisermann (1993), who asserts that Weber succeeded in integrating a neoclassical and a historical perspective and thereby overcame the pretheoretical perspective of the historical school. However, the conclusion of our paper is opposite to Eisermann's optimistic and Swedberg's (1999, p. 579) positive view. To substantiate our claim, we will not follow the tradition of the hagiographic literature, i.e., an innumerable accumulation of citations of Weber's works, remarks on the burgeoning secondary literature, and the detection of biographical links (2)--such writing would make it far to easy to lose our intended focus, Hence, we consciously restrict our considerations to a yew few, but major, texts (cf. Swedberg 1999, pp. 562-569). (3) Further, we will pursue a hermeneutical analysis, asking first what others have said on Weber. but primarily trying to understand what he himself wants to tell us. The first text under consideration is a compilation of his lecture materials for students in his course on general economics at Freiburg and Heidelberg in the years 1894-1898 (Weber [1898] 1990). (4) The text has 34 pages and consists of an overview of his four or five one-hour lectures per week, including some 600 references. It was found in the posthumous works of his wife Marianne Weber. Although not published during his lifetime, it is Weber's most complete contribution on theoretical economics. The second and third texts are part of his posthumously published monumental Economy and Society (1968d). (5) In the second text, "Basic sociological terms" (1968d, pp. 3-62), Weber develops his general approach theoretically. It was written between 1919 and 1920 and can be regarded as his last statement on method and theory. In addition to the third text on "Sociological categories of economic action," we will include a short written commentary on "the market" (1968d, 63-211 pp. 635-640). (6) We will exclude his substantive contributions on economic history (1924), on method (1968a), his Protestant ethics thesis ([190511930), and his critiques of the historical school (1968c) (7) because they raise further questions but add no substantial additional insights for our discussion. II The Secondary Literature on Weber's Sozialokonomik (8) FOR MOST ECONOMISTS Weber is anathema. At most it is granted that he was a considerable sociologist. The usual reference is Schumpeter, who mentions that he was an eminent sociologist and at best secondarily an economist (1920, p. 833). In contrast to hundreds of contributions on Weber and sociology, the historical and the political sciences, only few contributions on Weber and economics exist. This is despite the fact that he did almost all of his teaching in economics, although Weber was trained in law. He was first appointed to a chair of economics in Freiburg in 1894, and then became successor to Knies at Heidelberg in 1897. In the German-language literature, Brandt (1990) gives a very general, brief overview on Weber's definition of economics, the method of understanding, the ideal type, and the value-neutrality concept. …

The Physical Education System as a Consequential Social Determinant

Abstract: Employing the ideal type of “The Physical Education System,” in this analysis I explore the import of systems frameworks for new institutional designs which hold promise for better outcomes...

Multiculturalism Policies: Identifying the Dialectic of the "Ideal Type" within the Practices of Canadian Nursing

Abstract: Since Canada’s first multiculturalism policy in 1971, there has been an influx of Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) of colour to Canada. Studies show IENs occupying low-paid menial positions, while being excluded from policy-making leadership positions. Colonial values currently function through the notion of the “ideal type”, a term defined as a nurse who is white, middle class and occupying policy-making leadership roles. Within Canadian nursing, there appears to be a dialectic relationship between multiculturalism policies and the ideal type that become camouflaged by the term I have identified as the “hybrid space.” The hybrid space consists of public health nurses, clinicians, clinical case coordinators, and unit leaders who are registered nurses that work on the front-line with minimal leadership responsibilities. Although these nurses have comparable qualifications as their Canadian-born counterpart, they are not groomed into policy making leadership roles, but rather remain fixed in the hybrid-space. Through the experiences of IENs, this study shows how the dialectic relationship helps in maintaining Canada’s favourable position within the global market. Post colonial theory, antiracist feminism and Black Canadian feminist thought were used as theoretical frameworks to expose issues of racism and inequalities within the hybrid space. Indepth interviews, a qualitative methodology, explored the experiences of these IENs in the hybrid space. Ten IENs of colour who were from the United Kingdom and the ex-British colonies (India and the Caribbean) were recruited using the snowball method. The research uncovered several major themes such as, Non-Recognition, No Leaders of Colour at the Top, Faith and Spirituality and Valuing Their Heritage. The themes were divided into two further categories: 1) Challenges and 2) Resistance. Although the hybrid space was challenging, the IENs used these barriers as spaces of resistance in order to survive.

Germany after a Decade of Social Democrats in Government: The End of the Continental Model?

Abstract: In this paper, it is argued that Germany has undergone a series of large-scale institutional changes under 11 years of Social Democratic governance, weakening all of its core Continental principles and effectively triggering a process of regime hybridisation. Elements of these reforms include the recalibration of its labour market governance system, as well as a two-fold path-correction toward (a) a Nordic ideal type through the introduction of an activation pillar, a comprehensive, state-led childcare strategy, and a desire to improve lifelong learning opportunities, and (b) a liberal welfare ideal type through the curtailment of status-preserving privileges, increased benefit conditionality, and (more hesitantly) a move toward a relaxation of employment protection legislation, especially for labour market ‘outsiders’. As the path corrections toward the Nordic ideal type came far too late in the Social Democrats' reign, the party leadership lost the trust of many voters, its party base, and the union mov...