A Postcolonial Critique of Max Weber’s Concept of Ideal Types

This text discusses the main themes of the postcolonial critique of Max Weber’s sociological theory. Beginning with a sociological interpretation of the concept of a classic figure, the author lists the reasons why Weber should be recognized as the theorist most responsible for sociology being considered in separably connected with Western imperialism and colonialism. The author first reconstructs the premises Weber used to support sociology’s claim to be a science of universal validity, then interprets his concept of the ideal type and discusses criticism of the concept, as exemplified by the works of the British sociologist Gurminder Bhambra. In analyzing postcolonial critiques of the ideal type as a methodological tool, two issues are emphasized: the normative hypostasing of the ideal type, and the disruption to Weber’s procedure of creating and critiquing the ideal type that has occurred as a result of representatives of non-Western cultures joining the dialogue and revealing the limitations of the type’s communicativeness and thus of its universal validity