Sheldon Pollock and Max Weber: Why Pollock is more Weberian than he thinks

Sheldon Pollock is the leading North American Indologist and his magnum opus, The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India, is a field-defining classic. Pollock takes himself to be a fierce critic of Max Weber, but in fact his comparative historical a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Max Weber studies 2017-07, Vol.17 (2), p.212-234
Main Author: Gellner, David N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Buddhism
Ethnicity
Hindus
Indian literature
Islam
Nationalism
Religious rituals
South Asian culture
South Asian history
South Asian studies
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Sheldon Pollock is the leading North American Indologist and his magnum opus, The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India, is a field-defining classic. Pollock takes himself to be a fierce critic of Max Weber, but in fact his comparative historical approach shares much with Weber, and where it is wanting Pollock's text would have benefited from more, not less, Weberian influence. Pollock's vision of language history and his views on religion and legitimation are considered in detail.
ISSN:1470-8078
2056-4074
2056-4074
DOI:10.1353/max.2017.0016