Anneke van Baalen, HIDDEN MASCULINITY, Max Weber's historical sociology of bureaucracy.
Amsterdam 1994. Chapter 2 The Weber's private, sex defined values.
44
The revolutionary students in Weber's audience will have to choose: if they do not wish to be
responsible for the consequences of their revolution - a revolution which, according to
Weber, in this post-war situation cannot be other than disastrous - they will have to leave
politics: 'turn the other cheek'; in fact choose religion.
61
Here he only advises those who are
not real politicians to practice 'plain brotherliness in personal relations', and to go 'soberly
about their daily work', though 'even those who are neither leaders or heroes must arm
themselves with that steadfastness of heart which can brave even the crumbling of all
hopes'.
The responsibility the politician takes upon himself, however, is an inner and permanent one,
which should not be influenced by any commands he might receive from the 'sovereign',
from the monarch who or the democratic assembly which appointed him. At the end of his
lecture, Weber - having warned his audience for the polar night to come - summarizes his
views:
'Politics is a strong and hard boring of hard boards. It takes both passion and perspective. Certainly all historical
experience confirms the truth - that man would not have attained the possible unless time and again he had
reached out for the impossible. But to do that a man must be a leader, and not only a leader but a hero as well, in
a very sober sense of the word.'
62
I think that Weber himself considered himself such a man, and therefore dared to advocate a
political system in which so much power is given to one man, since he is convinced that,
were he himself called to leadership
63
, he would not misuse this power; therefore the
question of a German parliament would be able to produce this kind of responsible heroic
leaders or to control immoral ones, is not clearly discussed.
There is only one perspective on heroism in PaV that is formulated in a humanist way:
'Every one who is not spiritually dead must realize the possibility of finding himself at some time' in a position that
he has to say: '"Here I stand; I can do no other". That is something genuinely human and moving.
'
64
This is the only time Weber speaks of what is 'human'; and perhaps his choice for a
universalist formulation here is right for once: because it is only when 'charisma' is robbed of
all its association with success, power and vanity, in situations of extreme necessity, which
are outside of all routinized relations of public and private everyday life, that the definitions
and identities of masculinity and femininity can be transcended.
7. The discussion on the 'matriarchy'
61
Weber here says nothing about the 'manliness' of those who 'turn the other cheek'; I will show later that in his
scientific work he links the proof of manhood to military fraternities, not to religious ones; see below, Ch. 4,5.
62
FMW p. 128, GPS p. 548
63
Weber-Schnitger reports that Weber after the German revolution in november 1918 'was ready to do anything
for the nation and to assume the leadership of youth, but there was no one to follow him', Biography p. 631,
Lebensbild p. 679. He then became active in the new Deutsche Demokratische Partei, but refused to lower
himself to competition for parliamentary seats, Biography p. 641 f., Lebensbild p. 690 ff.
64
FMW p. 127, GPS p. 547. Perhaps even a woman could be human in this sense. Gerth and Mills in their
translation of Weber's lecture on 'Science as a Vocation', addressed to the same audience, suggest that he
addresses it as 'Ladies and gentlemen' (FMW p. 137); actually he said: 'honored audience' ('Verehrte
Anwesende !', GAzW p. 591); but where they translate: 'Fellow students !' (FMW p. 150) he indeed exclaimed:
'Kommilitonen und Kommilitoninnen !' (GAzW p. 606). Of course, this makes it even more sad that in this lecture
he only discussed the scientific vocation of young men.
 |
 |
 |