The laboratory of Economy and Society. A cross-cutting reading

After the publication of the German critical edition, Max Weber's Economy and Society can't be considered a unitary text any more, but rather a complex research laboratory, made of notices, unpublished manuscripts, interrupted essays etc. This article delves into the laboratory, trying to intertwine some arguments reported in Law (MWG I/22-3), Rulership (I/22-4), and The City (I/22-5). Despite the different topics, what emerges is: 1. a common terminology, based on couples of concepts (domestic community/community for acquisition; communalisation/sociation; traditional/rational), 2. a common fundamental target, represented by the effort of grasping the historical roots of contemporary society, which revolves around two fundamental communities: the market and the State.