Marx's and Weber's Conceptualizations of Modernity
Marx’s and Weber’s Conceptualizations of Modernity
The choice of how to define and describe ‘modernity’ has always been a contested subject. For Marshall Berman, the concept of modernity may be best expressed in Marx’s line “all that is solid melts into air” because modernity is seen as a “maelstrom of perpetual disintegration and renewal, of struggle and contradiction, of ambiguity and anguish”
(Berman, 15). The progress (as in economic and scientific growth), development (as in building and population growth), and unity (as in political unity) shaping the world in a new era also brought forth many forms of disunity. Therefore, both Marx and Durkheim frequently employs such words as ‘alienation’ and ‘estrangement’ to describe the condition of modernity and modern man. For Marx, this alienation was the result of capitalist exploitation. In Weber’s conceptualization, though, the alienation was the result of a bureaucracy, a rationalized unity, not disunity. For Weber, the fundamental characteristic of capitalism was bureaucracy, which can be seen as more mental exploitation rather than physical. It was a rationalized bureaucracy that then imprisoned man in an iron cage from which he cannot escape. Thus, while both Max and Weber understood that the system of capitalism lay at the root of the modern era and both saw adverse consequences from this economic system, they chose to define modernity and alienation through distinct conceptual differences. While the concept of alienation, or estrangement, is found in both Marx and Weber, it is necessary to understand that they conceived of alienation as having originated from different sources. It is also important to note that only Marx uses the terms alienation and estrangement. While Weber does not employ the term, alienation is still understood as the condition resulting from an impersonal and overly rational bureaucracy. Berman implicitly describes the Marxist model of
The choice of how to define and describe ‘modernity’ has always been a contested subject. For Marshall Berman, the concept of modernity may be best expressed in Marx’s line “all that is solid melts into air” because modernity is seen as a “maelstrom of perpetual disintegration and renewal, of struggle and contradiction, of ambiguity and anguish”
(Berman, 15). The progress (as in economic and scientific growth), development (as in building and population growth), and unity (as in political unity) shaping the world in a new era also brought forth many forms of disunity. Therefore, both Marx and Durkheim frequently employs such words as ‘alienation’ and ‘estrangement’ to describe the condition of modernity and modern man. For Marx, this alienation was the result of capitalist exploitation. In Weber’s conceptualization, though, the alienation was the result of a bureaucracy, a rationalized unity, not disunity. For Weber, the fundamental characteristic of capitalism was bureaucracy, which can be seen as more mental exploitation rather than physical. It was a rationalized bureaucracy that then imprisoned man in an iron cage from which he cannot escape. Thus, while both Max and Weber understood that the system of capitalism lay at the root of the modern era and both saw adverse consequences from this economic system, they chose to define modernity and alienation through distinct conceptual differences. While the concept of alienation, or estrangement, is found in both Marx and Weber, it is necessary to understand that they conceived of alienation as having originated from different sources. It is also important to note that only Marx uses the terms alienation and estrangement. While Weber does not employ the term, alienation is still understood as the condition resulting from an impersonal and overly rational bureaucracy. Berman implicitly describes the Marxist model of
Bibliography: Marshall Berman, All that is Solid Melts into Air: The Experience of Modernity (Simon & Schuster, 1982). pp. 15-36, 87-129. Alex Callinicos, Social Theory (NYU Press, 1999). pp. 123-178. Karl Marx, selections from Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 ("Estranged Labour," "Private Property and Communism," "The Meaning of Human Requirements," and "The Power of Money in Bourgeois Society"). pp. Karl Marx, "Commodities: The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret Thereof” in Capital, Volume 1, Part 1. pp. 46-56. George Ritzer, “The ‘McDonaldization’ of Society” Journal of American Culture (Spring 1983). Pp. 100-107. Max Weber, "The Spirit of Capitalism and the Iron Cage," "The Bureaucratic Machine" & Types of Legitimate Domination." pp. 109-120, 122-125. Raymond Williams, Keywords (Oxford University Press, 1985).