Anneke van Baalen, HIDDEN MASCULINITY, Max Weber's historical sociology of bureaucracy.
Amsterdam 1994. Chapter 4 Relations between men: from routinization of charisma to patriarchal
domination over men.
78
Only once does Weber begin to address the question of the origins of the men's house; his
answer, however, is based on the presupposition that patriarchy already existed in some
way, a presupposition he had denied earlier:
'The numerous means that were specially invented to intimidate and rob women -for example, the periodic
predatory exploits of the duk-duk - are an attempt by the men who have left the household to strengthen their
threatened authority.'
59
Neither Weber's concepts nor his cultural-anthropological material shed light on the question
of origins. Nor do they provide an explanation for the origins of the diverse kinds of 'war'. His
traditional ideas about the nature of men and women and the historical ubiquity of 'war'
prevent him from asking the right questions. The main interest of his concepts of
fraternization, routinization of charisma, charismatic education, proofs of manhood and
men's house, therefore, lies in the possibility they offer to criticize another concept: that of
the patriarchal household as the oldest social formation.
This concept can be criticized on the basis of Weber's own distinctions between 'warrior
fraternity' and 'patriarchy' and between 'patriarchy' and 'legal patriarchy'. Not all warrior
fraternities can legitimately claim patriarchal rights; a 'proven man' is not always a 'patriarch'.
On the contrary, one may conclude from Weber's analysis of 'legal patriarchy' that the
identity of 'warrior fraternity' and 'legal patriarchy' only came into being after certain warrior
fraternities developed in a special way.
7. From men's house to legal patriarchy: from warrior fraternity by plutocratization of
charisma to status group and caste
As we saw before, Weber employs the concept of 'military caste ' for his construction of the
development of the 'warrior fraternity' into legal patriarchy.
60
The concept of 'caste', in its
turn, is developed from that of 'status group'.
Weber defines the concept of 'status group' in separate chapters: in the unfinished Chapter
IV of the conceptual exposition,
61
and in a corresponding section on 'Classes, Status Groups
and Parties' in Part II
62
. He lays the foundation for this concept, however, in his treatment of
the 'Genesis and Transformation of Charismatic Domination', in the form of a continuation of
the construction of the series of stages of 'depersonalization of charisma' I discussed above.
The last stage of the transformations of charisma is its plutocratization. This comes about
through a monopolization of charismatic education by the rich. According to Weber every
training 'may become the concern of a small circle of professional associates out of which
may develop secret priestly fraternities or exclusive aristocratic clubs.'
63
All those clubs
'share the tendency to replace charismatic capacities increasingly with purely economic
qualifications.'
64
Charismatic education takes time; as the intensity of economic work
increased, dispensability from the household became less frequent. Therefore the rich
59
ES p. 371, WG p. 223.
60
See above no 1 and Ch. 3,5.
61
ES p. 302 ff., WG p. 177 ff.
62
ES p. 926, WG p. 531 ff.
63
ES p. 1145, WG p. 679.
64
ES p. 1146, WG p. 679.
 |
 |
 |