Swedberg takes on Tocqueville and Weber
Sociology professor Richard Swedberg writes about Alexis de Tocqueville and edits Max Weber in two new books about political economy in the 19th century.
In “Tocqueville’s Political Economy” (Princeton University Press), Swedberg “persuasively presents Tocqueville as a creative and original analyst of economic topics,” writes Tocqueville expert and author James T. Schleifer in a cover review. “Swedberg’s work focuses especially on Tocqueville’s way of thinking, and is a fresh, outstanding addition to contemporary Tocqueville scholarship an to the study of modern economic thought.”
In the new edition of “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” (Norton Critical Editions), Swedberg edits four critical essays – and contributes one of his own – on Weber’s landmark 1904 tome.
“From the moment that it was published, Weber’s study has led to a stormy debate that is still going on,” Swedberg writes. “Its readers either admire the arguments in ‘The Protestant Ethic’ or dislike them.”