Thinking about cultural configurations: Michels’ legacy

ABSTRACT Michels’ legacy is subject to innumerable interpretations and seemingly endless controversies specially in present times witnessing his rediscovery. The scientific starting point of this article is Michels’ Essay ‘Intorno al problema dei rapporti tra economia e politica’ which was published in his book on ‘Problemi di Sociologia Applicata’ in 1919. Our approach emphasize the innovative and evolutionary aspects of Michels’ thinking on the determinants of historical becoming. Michels argues critically that all expressions of human activity cannot be exclusively determined by extrinsic motivations and economic factors, but can also be equally influenced by intrinsic motivations and cultural factors. This has implications not only on the changes to be made to the historical method, but also on the criticism to be made to the neoclassical notion of economic science and to the elaboration of a wider notion of sociological science.