In 1946 Guerreiro Ramos published a book review in the Revista do Serviço Público - RSP, entitled "The sociology of Max Weber - importance for the theory and practice of administration". In this article he did more than merely introduce the reader to Weber's Economy and society; he also attempted to demonstrate the applicability of this work to the treatment of public administration matters and its relevance to a "culturally colonial" country like Brazil. Considering the specificities of knowledge production in the field of organization studies and that Guerreiro Ramos expressed in his essay a view that did not prevail in this field but that is faithful to a comprehensive sociology and to the ideal-typical methodology, the present article attempts to reiterate the ideas in that book review, bringing to bear a theoretical-conceptual discussion of the content of the book review with respect to the methodological construction of ideal-typical criticism.
Max Weber; ideal type; Guerreiro Ramos; public administration