Thinking about configurations: Max Weber and modern social science

Abstract

The article addresses Max Weber’s relevance for modern social science. The first part is a quantitative assessment of Weber’s fate in mainstream sociology; the second part presents an argument that Weber’s work contains elements of combinatorial thinking which makes it suitable for analysis in terms of the methodological apparatus developed by Charles Ragin. On the one hand, it is shown that Ragin’s notation and concepts are useful in bringing out some important features in Weber’s methodology and substantive writings. On the other hand, it is suggested that Weber’s use of configurations extend into areas that have received little attention in mainstream sociology.