Ideal type

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

Sociology, typology and extension: New issues

Abstract: Within our field of study we tried (1991) to introduce the concept of ideal type by Max Weber to understand the diversity of extension organizations in the history of this subject. Later we revised our work, "rethinking" ideal types of extension systems (1993) and redefining (broadening) our typology (1996). In the latter we pointed out that there was an ideal type which we had not considered: the 'Local' one, i.e., extension without external intervention. With this new type, our typology has grown from the three items of 1991 to the five ideal types of extension practice today: Local, Industrial, Corporative, Commercial and Ecosocial. Before presenting our typology, we analyse, in the first part of this article, the importance and utility of typologies in sociology. The second part deals with the concept of ideal type and its implications such as the idea that appears in the work of Max Weber. Many lines have been written about this weberian concept, but few of them are based on the original writings of the author. We believe that recovery of classical works remains an important task in our discipline and this is the reason to re-read the books in which Weber defined in a partial -and somewhat disconnected- way the concept of ideal type.

En klassiker - død eller levende?

Abstract: Hans Henrik Bruun: A Classic – Dead or Alive? What Use is Max Weber today? This article, based on the author’s Inaugural Lecture, discusses two related questions. The first question is how to deal with the great classics of sociology. And the second is to what extent Max Weber – arguably the greatest sociological classic of them all – is still relevant today. As for the study of sociological classics, it is important to keep the original context of their ideas firmly in mind, in order to avoid the dangers of misunderstanding, misattribution and banalization. The analysis of the place in contemporary sociology of Weber’s core methodological concepts of value freedom, objectivity and the ideal type, as well as his Protestantism thesis, concludes that, to a significant extent, they have now fallen prey to one or more of these dangers. On the other hand, Weber’s ideas continue to fascinate because of the exceptional lack of closure of his thought, and, more generally, because his approach reflects, with paradigmatic clarity, the tension between intentionality and necessity inherent in social action. Moreover, Weber’s insistence that scholars be passionate in their pursuit of and respect for truth, however uncomfortable the results of their endeavours, remains a durable ethical legacy to the discipline of sociology.

Ideal types’ strategies related to handling early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: A thematic analysis of comments from an international survey

Abstract: People (re)act differently when facing the pandemic. Multiple opinions about COVID-19 and related issues prevail, both in personal meetings and in (social) media. This article aims to illuminate different ideal types and handling strategies in early stages of the pandemic. A thematic Braun and Clark, and Weber inspired analysis of qualitative data from an international web-based survey was carried out in two steps. First, five ideal types related to handling the COVID-19 pandemic were constructed: the Stickler for the rules, the Challenger, the Fact hunter, the Idealist, and the Entertainer. Second, the ideal types were represented throughout four themes: Divided opinions on politico-medico restrictions, Multifaceted picture of the pandemic, Social media as a lookout point and source of insight, and The future between hope and fear. The results illustrated the complexity of people’s understanding of, (re)actions to and handling of the pandemic.

Introduction: Two Ideas of Tradition

Abstract: This chapter outlines two ideas of tradition: tradition as a cultural practice and tradition as an ideal type or concept. The first imagines an essence that is preserved intact through iterations; the second looks for processes of transformation. In regard to an international society tradition, it suggests that the latter illuminates the processes by which international society became a tradition. It points to how thinkers using the idea of ‘international society’ or ‘society of states’ reached forward to elucidate something new and reached backwards to justify or source their new understandings. It suggests that Grotius provided the ideal type.