Premium
Between Description and Explanation in State Theory: Rethinking Marx and Weber
Author(s) -
Kelly Duncan
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of historical sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.186
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-6443
pISSN - 0952-1909
DOI - 10.1111/1467-6443.00114
Subject(s) - marxist philosophy , scholarship , state (computer science) , epistemology , sociology , convergence (economics) , politics , positive economics , social science , political science , philosophy , law , economics , algorithm , economic growth , computer science
Although studying the state occupies a central place in historical sociology. traditional conceptualizations have tended to be an ‘either‐or’ choice between Marxist or Weberian approaches. The differences between contemporary versions of these paradigms, however, seem greatly overstated. Indeed, sophisticated development of state theory in recent years has been precipitated by a convergence between the two schools of thought. After examining leading contemporary scholarship, a mixture of intellectual, political and economic trends are examined to help explain and interpret this dialogue. I conclude by offering some thoughts on the current challenges facing state theory.