Max Weber’s ideas have had enormous influence in theoretical sociology, but what he wrote about Asia has more often been cited by specialists to illustrate his errors rather than to derive inspiration. This collection of essays both engages with Max Weber’s work, and attempts to use his general approach, combined with detailed ethnography from Nepal and Japan, to attack critical questions in the anthropology and sociology of Buddhism and Hinduism. Gellner’s emphasis is on Weber’s general historical, materialist, and conflict-oriented approach, rather than on a detailed exegesis of Weber’s work. Accordingly, though some essays explore Weber’s ideas directly, others are empirical explorations in a broadly Weberian framework. They demonstrate that such a framework is both comparative and stimulating, and permits fruitful formulations on a range of issues: from the relationship of Buddhist religious specialists (monks and priests) to Shamanic practitioners; to the way in which Brahmanical
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