Canadian sociologist and anthropologist Hans Bakker’s 2010 Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology entry on German sociologist Max Weber's elective affinity theory. [7]

“Elective affinities (Wahlverwandtschaften) – the exact meaning of this term, which Weber often uses, is contested. The most common interpretation, however, is that ‘elective affinity’ is used by Weber to express the fact that two sets of social facts or mentalities are related to each other or gravitate to each other—even though no direct and simple causality between the two can be established.”

“[There exists] an elective affinity between the sect and political democracy.”

“Several scholars have called attention to the importance of Weber’s use of the term ‘elective affinity’, yet nowhere has the term received a treatment both systematic and historically founded. The present paper attempts to fill that gap. Each instance of Weber’s usage is cited and discussed. Next, the place of elective affinity in his order of discourse is determined. Then, the lineage of the term in the histories of literature, chemistry, and philosophy is examined with special reference to Weber’s knowledge of those histories. Two related terms, ‘affinity’ and ‘inner affinity’, are examined and brought into relationship with Weber’s use of elective affinity. These materials suggest that elective affinity, conceived as an ‘idea’ in the Kantian sense, would have served to answer the question: ‘how is social science possible?’ which was implicit in the neo-Kantian framework of Weber’s order of discourse.”

“The elective affinities operative between architectural history and other disciplines- such as literature, history, sociology, anthropology, arts, including the photography and the cinema - have been lengthily debated in the past years. The conference intends particularly to identify these affinities, looking from inside the discipline of architecture.”