Social discipline and state formation. Weber and Oestreich on the historical sociology of subjectivity

Abstract

Although discipline is normally associated with Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (London, 1977), Max Weber's Gesammelte Aufsatze zur Soziologie und Sozialpolitik ([Collected Essays on Sociology and Social Policy], Tubingen, 1924) and Gerhard Oestreich's Neostoicism and the Early Modern State (Cambridge, 1982) also explored this topic extensively. An exploration is presented of the historical sociology of subjectivity in terms of increasing discipline. For Weber, Protestant asceticism was important in the development of capitalism, making him the intellectual forerunner of recent discussions. Oestreich's analysis focused on neostoicism and state intervention in Westen Europe. Special attention is given to difficult points in their works and to implications of more recent historical research. 83 References. Adapted from the source document.