A Meta-Theoretical Approach to the Sociology of Change: The Case of Max Weber

Author/s: Sedat Doğan

Year: 2020 Vol: 2 Number: 1

Abstract

The main topic in the sociology of change is social change. But the subject begins to deepen and expand when we ask about the keywords indicated by society as a word, variables such as nature, level, or process of change and the methodological answers given to this question of how to study change. Adding the classifications developed for differentiating the various approaches in the history of sociology of change to this framework will reveal the groundwork on which this study’s problem is based. Our issue is not the problems in the sociology of change, but the sociology of change as a problem. In other words, our issue is the philosophical or methodological problems that exist within the sociological analysis of change. In this respect, problems corresponding to the fields of being, knowledge, and values will be examined such as object, knowledge, methodology, and objectivity. On the other hand, despite having such a collection of problems related to the sociology of change, the number of studies approaching the issue at the meta-theoretical level in Turkey is quite low. This study is considered to contribute to eliminating this gap identified in the literature. The study is limited to the assumption of the discrepancy between Max Weber’s methodology and analysis. The aim of the study is to point out that meta-theoretical problems cannot be solved if we do not provide an overall approach to the history of the philosophy of sociology and the social sciences. Thus, the transition from the philosophical theory of change to the scientific sociology of change will be indicated by the metaphysical problems that ensue in this process. As can be seen towards the end of the study, neither Weber’s critique nor those from different theoretical positions directed at one another can solely be subjectively evaluated. They are also markers of metatheoretical issues. Each critique is an event of the story it is a part of; this story transcends the alternative theoretical positions and relates to the logical and metaphysical problems in the fields of being, knowledge, and values.

Keywords
sociology of change, Max Weber, meta-theoretical analysis, methodology, social change