Max Weber's Sociology of Law

Abstract

The substantive underpinnings of Max Weber's `Sociology of Law' and the standing of judges therein are discussed. Foregrounding his conception of the administration of justice, perennial concern with the correlation between personality and the structure of domination, and account of legal rationalization, his discernment of the vital adjudicative role assumed by judges and the bearing of their personal qualifications is elucidated. The focus is placed on Weber's putatively negative assessment of the Common Law. Reading his appraisal of precedent and the charismatic stature of the judge in light of his theory of casuistry and critique of bureaucracy, it is shown that his examination implicitly extols the English administration of justice.

Max Weber's Sociology of Law Applied to a Case of Judicial Intervention into State-Sanctioned Inmate Abuse

“…Inverarity 1983;Sahni 2009;Treiber 2012) as the major contribution Weber made to the sociology of law. While Weber's macro insights are significant and are certainly useful in explaining the emergence of law at Eastham, it is equally challenging to apply other pieces of Weber's theoretical understanding of law and society to the changes there.…”

Max Weber’s legal thinking

“…This is somewhat misleading because, as Isher-Paul Sahni has tried to show in ‘Max Weber’s Sociology of Law’, the judge is not merely a ‘mediator’ but possesses considerable authority. Judges need people to believe in their legitimacy so ‘they need to possess the charisma which ensures that their judgments are binding’ (Sahni, 2009: 215). Sahni does not address the question of charisma’s stability.…”

“…A larger but unstated goal is to direct scholars’ attention to this difficult and neglected part of Weber’s thinking about law; it is my view that here they have succeeded admirably. Weber may have been wrong about certain points in the history of law, but he continues to offer much both to the contemporary legal scholar as well as the contemporary sociologist (Berman and Reid, Jr, 2000: 231, 239; Sahni, 2009: 226–7). Weber taught economics, wrote political theory and helped create sociology but he ‘remained a son of his [legal] discipline’ (Anter, 2007: 28).…”