HSS201 Weber 3 Week 9

The sociology and domination

Weber and Domination

The starting point is Weber’s definition of the state: “is a human community that successfully claims and monopoly of the legitimate use the physical force within a given territory, the sole source of the right to use violence (PC pg 78)

The state is the only source that exercises the legitimate use of violence. One institution that the state must have is the military, external sovereignty, to defend its territoriality and maintain its sovereignty. Internal, police to maintain internal control.

The operative word is legitimate domination.

Legitimate ---------illegitimate (continuum)

Where is the tipping point?

Basic distinctions among:

Power: probability will of actor in a relationship carried out despite resistance?
Domination: command is specific content obeyed by a given group
Discipline: habituated, automatic obedience (socialization, institutionalization into a system,) ES vol I pg 53)

Types of domination:

• Legitimate -------illegitimate


• Self-discipline----- need no be physical force, raising voice or threatening tone


• Obedience------ resistance


• Consent ----coercion

When domination is legitimate, people tend to obey. Obedience and consent are the best.

Sociology and Action Meaning

The whole question of legitimacy lines the Meaning
Recall what is interpretive sociology and what is social action, behave in relation to others.

Meaningful actions vs, doesn’t not only mean or merely reactive behaviour, purely traditional behaviours, mystical experience, or action oriented towards ultimate ends or values; emotional affected behaviours.

Social actions- inaction can be a social action, eg, sitting in class quietly

Types of social actions:
1. instrumentally, self-interest
2. value rational
3. Affectual
4. Traditional customary

Thus: sociology of domination has to do with interpretive sociology and meaning

Bases of legitimacy

• Subjective (value- rational/ religious)


• External effects (interest situations)


• Convention (sanctions of disapproval)


• Law (physical/psychological coercion)


• Legitimacy of authority can be earned

Types of legitimacy:

1. Tradition, that which has always been,


2. Charismatic, revealed or exemplary, emotion of faith,


3. Legality (legal –rational) voluntary agreement imposed from legitimate authority to compliance.

Types of authority (legitimate power)

Traditional: from time immemorial of authority of elder,
Rational: belief in legality of rules and authority to enforce consistency and abstract rules backed up by bureaucracy.

Charismatic: devotion of exceptional, exemplary character of norms revealed ordained by him. Person with special characteristics.

Charismatic leadership: opposed to traditional and rational authority, the leader can disregard the law and rules; he doesn’t use the position but rather his quality.
Individual personality, supernatural, superhuman, at least exceptional,
Followers of disciples who recognize this

Charismatic community: communistic eg sectarian cults

Routinization of charismatic: the charismatic leader has flaw, difficult to sustain leadership; charisma becomes institutionalized.

Some extreme case of charismatic leadership: World War I and World War II, Holocaust, State Violence etc.

Holocaust research, Christopher R Browning; Daniel J Goldhagen “Ordinary German”

Debate on interpretation on mass participation of ordinary Germen in voluntary mass murder of Jews,

Why did they kill? Why did they stop killing? Personal motivation? Willingness? Choice making?

Issues: obedience to authority but have was authority legitimized?

Browning critiques Goldhagen’s work of the view that “Germen were willing to kill because they had hatred for the Jew long ago” too narrow;

He rather considers the grey zone, eg, mixed motives, conflicting emotions and pr..
Reluctant choices etc..

Sociological view: how do you explain that? Issues of domination, ordinary German by Nazis vs Jews by Germen.

Where does legitimacy come in? how the killer gave meaning of their actions?

Violence and rationalization

Holocaust as an example of rational i.e. calculated systematic, factory like examination of members of on group. And there limits to rationalization?

What is rational from one the point of view many well be irrational from another.

Domination is also tried to values and ethics and hence legitimacy.
The roles ideas in history, not ideas, but material of ideal interests, directly govern men’s conduct. FMW pg280 Domination can operate in fairly ordinary walls