Max Weber and Postmodern Theory: Rationalization Versus Re-Enchantment

This book explores the contemporary nature of Max Webers work by looking in detail at his key concepts of rationalization and disenchantment. Thematic parallels are drawn between Webers rationalization thesis and the critiques of contemporary culture developed by Jean-Francois Lyotard, Michel Foucault and Jean Baudrillard. It is suggested that these three postmoden thinkers develop and respond to Webers analysis of modernity by pursuing radical strategies of affirmation and re-enchantment. Examining the work of these three key thinkers in this way casts new light both on postmodern theory and on Webers sociology of rationalization.