Tao Chen 陈涛

Beijing: Sanlian (SDX & Harvard-Yenching Academic Library), April 2026

About the book: This book focuses on Max Weber’s late work, the sociology of the state. Combining European historical insights, legal theories and empirical research, it analyzes modern state formation, the shift from traditional domination to rational bureaucracy, and the interplay between law, domination, democracy and bureaucracy. Departing from the civilizational comparison long dominant in Chinese Weber studies, the author links bourgeois spiritual motivations to modern democracy, bureaucracy and capitalism, and integrates Weber’s Economy and Society with his sociology of religion. Adopting Weber’s perspective, the book exposes the inherent flaws of modern Western mass democracy: bureaucratic party machinery and the ensuing crisis of political ethics.

本书以马克斯·韦伯晚期学术的最终成就“国家社会学”为主轴、以欧洲社会历史中的现实道路为镜，结合法权理念和实证研究，分析现代国家形成的动力机制，探讨传统支配形态如何走向现代理性官僚制、“法权”和“支配”在转型中的共同作用，以及民主制和官僚制的辩证关系等韦伯理论中的关键问题。作者脱离20世纪80年代以来国内韦伯研究偏重文明比较的路径，在《新教伦理》《儒教与道教》等宗教研究之上，建立起一座沟通市民阶层的精神动力和现代民主制、理性官僚制与资本主义等现代政治经济要素的桥梁，构织了联结其“经济与社会”“宗教社会学”两大研究的理论纽带，并赋予之整体性。他最终寄望透过韦伯的视角，看到欧美在19世纪下半叶以来的大众民主时代中所遇到内在困境，即政党机器的官僚化及其导致的政治伦理危机。

About the series: The SDX and HYI Academic Series 三联·哈佛燕京学术丛书 began in 1994. It is edited by Feng Jinhong, Yang Le, and Zhong Yun, and is expected to publish 6 titles per year.