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Reflections on a Sociological Classic 100 Years On Max WeberA confrence organised by Peter Flügel (SOAS) and Sam Whimster (Max Weber Studies) in cooperation with the German Historical Institute London, Nehru Centre London, Max Weber Kolleg Erfurt, and the British Sociological Association.8 -10 September 2016Venue: Russell Square: College BuildingsFollowing the successful Weber and China conference at the School of Oriental and African Studies in September 1913, attention turns to another anniversary. In April and December 1916 and May 1917 the Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik published two long articles on the religions and the social and political structures of South Asia in historical perspective. Hinduism and Buddhism was Weber’s second essay (after Confucianism and Taoism) on the economic ethics of the world religions. ‘Indian religiosity, theoretically and practically, was the cradle of the most world denying form of religious ethic that the world has ever brought forth.’Certain weaknesses of his analysis have received attention in previous conferences and publications: his overreliance on the sacred texts rather than on how religion was lived, the biases of western Indology, his conceptualization of caste. Equally, Weber thought a modern India would emerge in the process of nation state formation, just as he noted the emergence of modern capitalism in Shanghai in 1911. South and East Asia are now shaping capitalism in the twenty-first century according to their own requirements.Hinduism and Buddhism marks Weber’s intense preoccupation with the religions and ethics of South Asia and their diffusion throughout the region. He reaches back to texts, which today can only be reckoned ancient, brilliantly characterizing their fundamental precepts and attitude to inner and outer worlds. Weber lacked the knowledge to interrelate religions to social, political and economic currents according to today’s much richer scholarly sources. But his handling of a number of themes remain classic and exemplary, issues so fundamental that they remain unresolved and just as relevant today.Conference Programme18.00-19.30 Thursday, 8th September 2016 - Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, SOAS18.00     Romila Thapar (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)Revisiting Max Weber on the Religion of India19.30     Reception Brunei Gallery Suite9.30-18.00 Friday, 9th September 2016 - Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS9:00     Tea and CoffeeFirst Session:9.15     Stephen Kalberg (Boston University)The Uniqueness of India: A Weberian Comparative Analysis10.00     Andreas Buss (University of Ottawa)EIGENGESETZLICHKEIT: Or Relations between the Political and the Religious Domain in India and in the Occident10.45     Tea &#38; CoffeeSecond Session:11.15     Hermann Kulke (University of Kiel)Max Weber's Concept of Legitimation Revisited12.00     Wolfgang Schluchter (University of Heidelberg)The Two Great Heterodoxies in Ancient India: An Example of Max Weber's Anti-Hegelian Approach12.45     Group Photo13.00     Lunch: Brunei Gallery SuiteThird Session:14.00     Richard Gombrich (University of Oxford)Max Weber’s Work and the Study of Buddhism Today14.45     Peter Flügel (SOAS)Max Weber's Sociology of Jainism Revisited15.30     Susantha Goonatilake (Royal Asiatic Society, Colombo)Max Weber’s Buddhism: Viewed from 21st Century Asia16.15     Tea &#38; CoffeeFourth Session:16.30     Sam Whimster (Max Weber Studies, London)The Transition to Capitalism : Max Weber's Ideal Type of Modern Capitalism and its Applicability to Present Day India17.15     Meghnad Jagdishchandra Desai (House of Lords, London)India and Modernity17.45     Brief Break18.00     Roundtable Addressing the theme: "Max Weber’s Hinduism and Buddhism 100 Years on"19.00     Final Remarks9.30-13.00 Saturday, 10th September 2016 - Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS9.00     Tea and CoffeeFirst Session:9.15     Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer (Lichtenberg-Kolleg Göttingen)Asia in General and India in Particular – Max Weber’s Conclusions on the Role of the Literati in Hinduism and Buddhism10.00     David Gellner (University of Oxford)Max Weber and Sheldon Pollock: Poles Apart?10.45     Tea &#38; CoffeeSecond Session:11.00     Hans G. Kippenberg (Jacob’s University Bremen)The Dialectics of Disenchantment: Changes of Religions in Modernity11.45     Laura R. Ford (Bard College, New York)Dharma &#38; Natural Law: Max Weber’s Comparison of Hindu and Christian Legal Traditions12.30     Martin Fuchs (Max Weber Kolleg, Erfurt)Sociology of World Relations: Confronting the Complexities of Hindu Religions. A Perspective Beyond Max Weber13.15     Final RemarksThe conference has been organised by Peter Flügel (SOAS) and Sam Whimster (Max Weber Studies) in cooperation with the German Historical Institute London, Nehru Centre London, Max Weber Kolleg Erfurt, and the British Sociological Association.Free and open to all !Maximum attendance 125. Please RSVP Contact: pf8@saos.ac.uk