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AbstractThe aim of this paper is to analyze which concept describes the central theme in Max Weber's works — the rationalization processes — best: disenchantment, alienation, or anomie. I first describe how Weber's rationalization processes were understood in the past. Most scholars have interpreted these processes as disenchantment, although some have seen a stronger affinity to the Marxist concept of alienation. Since the majority have regarded disenchantment as the central theme of Weber's legacy, I discuss Weber's rare statements about the disenchantment process, most of which appear in a speech that was published later as Science as a Vocation. I then introduce definitions of key concepts (Hegelian alienation, Marxist alienation, Durkheimian anomie, and de-magification) to provide a more varied and precise vocabulary. This will aid in describing at least two different rationalization processes that can be derived from Weber's theoretical framework (Economy and Society) and his historical studies. The first, in the economic and political sphere, can be characterized as Marxist alienation, whereas the second, in the religious sphere, can be interpreted as de-magification and Hegelian alienation. It is possible to regard Weber's statement in Science as a Vocation as a third rationalization process, in the sphere of knowledge production, which would suggest the concepts of de-magification and anomie. However, such a reading would seem to contradict the greater body of Weber's methodological writings. Finally, it is concluded that the term disenchantment is not a very useful concept for portraying Weber's intended view.

The aim of this paper is to contribute to research on the role of elite networks in democracies. The specific research topic is an attempt to measure (for the first time) the influence of different elite networks on U.S. government administrations from 1901 to 2021. The strategy is based on the identification of U.S. government officials, who were also members of secret elite networks during their time in office. To this end, each government position received an influence value based on its importance. If an official in this position was also a member of an elite network, then the influence of the position is counted towards the influence of the network. The total influence of a network is divided by the total influence of all government positions in order to receive its relative influence score in a given administration. The results show that Freemasons had a strong influence on most U.S. governments until 1953, whereas the Anglo-American Network, with its most prominent arm, the Council on Foreign Relations, became the dominant force from Eisenhower onward. Only Nixon's first cabinet and Donald Trump constituted exceptions thereafter, relying less heavily on this network. The implication of this study is that it is impossible to understand American history or World history in the last 120 years without also analyzing the role and interests of elite networks, given their consistent and surprisingly high level of influence, as revealed by this study.

"1996 veröffentlichte Hartmut Esser in dieser Zeitschrift ein Rational Choice Modell der 'Definition der Situation'. Diese Arbeit basierte auf seiner ökonomischen Interpretation der Theorie von Alfred Schütz, einem Gründungsvater der interpretativen Soziologie. Im vorliegenden Aufsatz wird dieser Versuch von Hartmut Esser, das soziologische Konzept der 'Definition der Situation' mit Hilfe der ökonomischen Theorie zu rekonstruieren, analysiert. Es wird gezeigt, dass Essers Fehlinterpretationen und Verkürzungen der Theorie von Alfred Schütz (dies gilt im Besonderen für die interaktiven Aspekte) zu erheblichen Diskrepanzen zwischen Esser und Schütz bei der Modellierung der Situationsdefinition führen. Esser gelingt es mit seiner ökonomischen Modellierung der 'Definition der Situation' nicht, den soziologischen Kern dieses Konzepts (die Konstruktion von Sinnstrukturen) zu erfassen, da er gemäß der ökonomischen Tradition ein Modell rationalen Verhaltens formuliert. Schütz hingegen plädierte für die Konstruktion von rationalen Modellen menschlichen Verhaltens, welches auch 'irrationales' (nicht nutzenmaximierendes) bzw. 'sinn'geleitetes Verhalten mit einschließt." (Autorenreferat)

The goal of this paper is to develop a consistent framework for a phenomenological discourse analysis of political debates. The political sphere arises through the questioning of taken-for-granted definitions of reality: a crisis. During a crisis meaning has to be restored, and different interest groups will try to push their definition of reality, which is advantageous for them. For the analysis of such a political discourse phenomenology provides several tools that can help us to understand the background of the discourse, the severity of the crisis, the level of expertise of the participants, the source of the information, discourse strategies and what arguments the audience accepts. These tools allow a unique phenomenological approach towards political discourse analysis.