Reading Weber is not easy so here are some pointers.

First, you can be selective about the sections. The following sections can be skipped or read lightly; 24,-29, 31-40.

Here are some advice about how to read Chapter 2 in Economy and Society:

  1. It helps to notice that each section starts with a general statement followed by elaboration. Here you can see Weber’s education is law. Try to understand the general point and then read the rest as clarification.
  2. It also helps to pay attention to the analytic strategy Weber deploys. He is working through distinctions of conceptual pairs, such as substantive vs. formal rationality, market vs. planned economy, economic vs. technical action, open vs. closed relationships etc.. It will help if you write down these conceptual pairs.
  3. Weber occasionally proposes schemes of classification of threes and fours. Try to think of examples and try to figure out the underlying dimensions. For instance, he talks about the different types of economic organization: 1. economically active, 2. economic, 3. economically regulative, 4. enforcing a formal order. Examples: 1. university, 2. enterprise, 3. trade unions, Better Business Bureau, 4. state. Underlying dimension: 1,2, vs. 3,4 – participation vs. regulation. 1 vs. 2 indirect vs. direct participation, 3 vs. 4 specific rule setting vs. general rule maintenance.
  4. Weber uses words in an odd way (this is partly a translation problem). Household, for instance is not people who live together, but a form of economic activity aimed at maximizing consumption. Advantages (Chancen) should really be read as opportunities (as in I have a good chance of getting this job).
  5. There are words that are strange, such as autocephalous (self-headed, organization that can choose its leaders, contrasted with autonomous, self regulated, organization that can set its own rules), or ergasterion (workshop in Greek). Look these up in the Oxford English Dictionary.
  6. Swedberg’s Max Weber book is a useful aid especially chapter 2.
  7. Try to compare/contrast Weber with Smith and Marx. How is Weber’s notion of the division of labor different from Smith’s (or Marx’s)? How does Weber’s notion of expropriation of Workers from the means of production or communism compare to Marx’s?
  8. Finally, I assumed that you took grad theory and you remember some of your readings by Weber. If not, you may want to read a bit from Chapter 1 (first 30 pages on social action and rationality) for refreshing your memory.

I hope this helps. Happy reading!