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Abstracts

The notion of elective affinity (Wahlverwandtschaft) has a long history which is much older that Weber’s writings. It went through a complex path that leads from alchemy to romantic literature (Goethe), and from there to the social sciences. Weber uses it only three times in The Protestant Ethic, but it appears also in several of his other writings, mainly concerning sociology of religion. Weber does not define it, but one could propose the following definition, based on the weberian use of the notion: elective affinity is a process through which two cultural forms – religious, intellectual, political or economical – who have certain analogies, intimate kinships or meaning affinities, enter in a relationship of reciprocal attraction and influence, mutual selection, active convergence and mutual reinforcement. Without substituting other analytical, explanatory or comprehensive paradigms, elective affinity may offer a new approach, until now hardly explored, in the field of sociology of culture.

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References

Bibliographical reference

Michael Löwy, « Le concept d’affinité élective chez Max Weber », Archives de sciences sociales des religions, 127 | 2004, 93-103.

Electronic reference

Michael Löwy, « Le concept d’affinité élective chez Max Weber », Archives de sciences sociales des religions [Online], 127 | juillet - septembre 2004, Online since 25 June 2007, connection on 28 March 2024. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/assr/1055 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/assr.1055

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About the author

Michael Löwy

Centre d’Études Interdisciplinaires des Faits Religieux – CNRS

By this author

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Copyright

The text only may be used under licence © Archives de sciences sociales des religions. All other elements (illustrations, imported files) are “All rights reserved”, unless otherwise stated.

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