Sam Whimster

Federal Central Banks is a unique study that critically examines the role and impact of central banks in federal and confederal political systems. It conducts a detailed examination of the history, design and operation of central banking in the United States and in the European Union. The contradiction between the centralizing features of banking and monetary policy and the political and economic expectations of pluralist federal democracy is explored. Regional economic disparities are seen to be amplified by modern 'independent' central banking. The response of the US Treasury and Federal Reserve to the GFC is rated as superior to immature Eurozone institutions. But both underperformed in not providing adequate fiscal-monetary solutions. Quantitative easing rescued the financial sector from collapse, but exacerbated wealth inequalities and failed to provide a sufficiently rapid economic recovery. Federal level banking reforms need to go hand in hand with democratic accountability. The Eurozone governance structures are dysfunctional and undemocratic and should be reformed.

Understanding Weber provides an accessible and comprehensive explanation of the central issues of Weber's work. Using the most recent scholarship and editions of Weber's writings, Sam Whimster establishes the full range, depth and development of Max Weber's approach to the social and cultural sciences. This ground-breaking book:locates the central issues in Weber's writings and relates them to the golden era of social and cultural sciencesargues that Weber remains the major exponent of the classical tradition still relevant todayoffers a new interpretation of the dynamic of Weber’s career as historian, social-economist, methodologist and sociologist. Weber's sociology still stands as a successful and valid underwriting of the substantive fields of power, law, rulership, culture, religion, civilizational configurations, and economic sociology. At a time of the turning away from grand theory to empirical policy studies, this book asserts the authority of Weber's conception and calls for a critical engagement with his legacy in order to understand the dynamics of a globalizing modernity. This is an indispensable guide to Weber's writings and will be an invaluable companion to The Essential Weber (2004). The book closely tracks the development of Weber’s thinking, an exploration that will make it an obligatory choice for undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as researchers in the fields of sociological theory, economic sociology and cultural studies.

Understanding Weber provides an accessible and comprehensive explanation of the central issues of Weber's work. Using the most recent scholarship and editions of Weber's writings, Sam Whimster establishes the full range, depth and development of Max Weber's approach to the social and cultural sciences. This ground-breaking book:locates the central issues in Weber's writings and relates them to the golden era of social and cultural sciencesargues that Weber remains the major exponent of the classical tradition still relevant todayoffers a new interpretation of the dynamic of Weber’s career as historian, social-economist, methodologist and sociologist. Weber's sociology still stands as a successful and valid underwriting of the substantive fields of power, law, rulership, culture, religion, civilizational configurations, and economic sociology. At a time of the turning away from grand theory to empirical policy studies, this book asserts the authority of Weber's conception and calls for a critical engagement with his legacy in order to understand the dynamics of a globalizing modernity. This is an indispensable guide to Weber's writings and will be an invaluable companion to The Essential Weber (2004). The book closely tracks the development of Weber’s thinking, an exploration that will make it an obligatory choice for undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as researchers in the fields of sociological theory, economic sociology and cultural studies.