{"id":11512,"date":"2017-02-08T22:18:44","date_gmt":"2017-02-09T06:18:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/?p=11512"},"modified":"2017-02-08T22:18:44","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T06:18:44","slug":"religion-identity-and-correlation-reflections-on-webers-the-protestant-ethic-and-the-spirit-of-capitalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/religion-identity-and-correlation-reflections-on-webers-the-protestant-ethic-and-the-spirit-of-capitalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Religion, Identity, and Correlation: Reflections on Weber\u2019s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Max Weber\u2019s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/em> is considered one of the most important 20th<\/sup> century works on sociology.[1]<\/a> Capitalism has existed in various forms and to various degrees throughout history, as has greed and wealth. But not until the sixteenth century did its modern form rise to become the dominant global economic model. And while the emergence of capitalism is not monocausal, the spirit <\/em>of capitalism rose out of a particular ethic. Weber\u2019s thesis suggests that early Calvinist piety was the \u201cseedbed\u201d of modern, rational capitalistic economy.[2]<\/a> While previous generations of Christians considered the accumulation of wealth to be a sign of greed and avarice,[3]<\/a> a shift occurred when Protestantism came on the scene.[4]<\/a> The Calvinist doctrine of predestination led a person to question, \u201cam I one of the elect?\u201d. As a way to combat that unknown question and prove oneself worthy, an ethic of hard work, industriousness, and individualism, developed.[5]<\/a> Fritz Ringer, in his biography of Weber, suggests that, in order to be considered a member of early Protestant sects, people had to \u201cprove themselves <\/em>permanently worthy in their personal and business conduct. And the qualities they had to demonstrate were those of the early capitalists.\u201d[6]<\/a> It is important to note, however, that Calvinistic Protestantism did not create<\/em> the spirit of capitalism; rather, it \u201cfueled the spirit of modern capitalism characterized by endless accumulation of wealth combined with strict discipline.\u201d[7]<\/a> In fact, labor was now seen as \u201cdesigned by God to serve the utility of the human race\u2026 [and] to promote the glory of God and hence to be willed by Him.\u201d[8]<\/a> Labor became a calling, a duty. Much more can be summarized here, but I want to address what I see to are some implications for today:<\/p>\n

Capitalism as Religion?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Capitalism only needed a kick-start to take off and rule the world. Puritanism provided that, but since then, capitalism no longer requires\u2014nor desires\u2014a connection to religion. Weber suggests that \u201cany relationship between religious beliefs and conduct is generally absent\u2026.The people filled with the spirit of capitalism to-day tend to be indifferent, if not hostile, to the Church.\u201d[9]<\/a> In fact, capitalism \u201cno longer needs the support of any religious forces,\u201d but feels religious influence is an \u201cunjustified interference.\u201d[10]<\/a> Has capitalism itself become a religion? Weber seems to suggest the possibility. This would be an idea worth exploring more.<\/p>\n

Human Identity, Labor, and Freedom<\/strong><\/p>\n

Agrarian prophet, Wendell Berry, writes,<\/p>\n

\u201cOur present idea of freedom is only the freedom to do as we please: to sell ourselves for a high salary, a home in the suburbs, and idle weekends. But that is a freedom dependent upon affluence, which is in turn dependent upon the rapid consumption of exhaustible supplies. The other kind of freedom is the freedom to take care of ourselves and of each other. The freedom of affluence opposes and contradicts the freedom of community life.\u201d[11]<\/a> <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Capitalism has become inevitable, a \u201cnecessary part of [our] lives.\u201d[12]<\/a> People are now \"\"<\/a>considered part of the competitive system in our pursuit of wealth, and to the detriment of community. For example, when introduced to a person, our first question usually is \u201cAnd what do you do?\u201d[13]<\/a> Their answer tells us where to place them in our context. Are they \u201cabove\u201d or \u201cbelow\u201d us on the imaginary competitive ladder? We are now identified with what<\/em> we do, rather than our relationships. And we are caught in an endless cycle: \u201cMan [sic] is dominated by the making of money, by acquisition as the ultimate purpose of his life.\u201d[14]<\/a> If we are to survive in the capitalistic economy, we must conform to it. For us, \u201cfate has turned this coat into a \u2018steel housing.\u2019 The outward goods of the world have acquired more power over humanity today than ever before.\u201d[15]<\/a> Weber calls this the \u201ceconomic survival of the fittest.\u201d[16]<\/a> It is an illusion of freedom that now drives us; a spirit that South African ethicist Muyaradzi Felix Murove suggests is \u201calways insatiable because it can never be propitiated with any amount of acquired wealth.\u201d[17]<\/a><\/p>\n

Bebbington & Bevans (again)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, this week I\u2019ve been processing a connection between Bebbington\u2019s evangelical doctrine of assurance juxtaposed with the Puritan\u2019s doctrine of grace\u2014where \u201cassurance is rare, late, and the fruit of struggle.\u201d<\/em> [18]<\/a>If we follow Bebbington\u2019s thesis that evangelicalism is influenced by its context[19]<\/a> (hello Bevans!), then how would it not follow that, as Puritanism was influencing the emergence of the spirit of capitalism, capitalism was also influencing Puritanism to provide it with a confidant assurance of human knowledge, and even salvation, the hallmarks of Evangelicalism. British historian, R.H. Tawney, in his introduction to Weber\u2019s work, questions, \u201cWhy insist that causation can work in only one direction?…. Would it not be equally plausible\u2026 to argue that the religious changes were themselves merely the result of economic movements?\u201d [20]<\/a> Indeed. \"\"<\/a>Our theology has, historically, and perpetually, been influenced by our environment. Murove suggests that, as a capitalistic influence on Protestantism continues to be accurate today, \u201cpost-colonial African writings\u201d might be useful to \u201cexorcize the Protestant ethic as the handmaiden of the spirit of capitalism\u201d through storytelling and the concept of Ubuntu<\/em> (Bantu, \u201chuman togetherness\u201d).[21]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> The International Sociological Association listed it as #4. (Weber\u2019s Economy and Society<\/em> was #1). http:\/\/www.isa-sociology.org\/en\/about-isa\/history-of-isa\/books-of-the-xx-century\/<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/em> (New York: Scribner\u2019s Sons, 1958 [2003]), 43; cf p35.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid, 56.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> That is, primarily Calvinism. Weber didn\u2019t think Lutheranism or other Protestant branches provided the same theological rationale as did Calvinism.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid., 110.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Fritz Ringer, Max Weber: An Intellectual Biography<\/em> (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010), 135. Italics in original.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Munyaradzi Felix Murove, \u201cThe Quest for an African Economic Ethic,\u201d Mankind Quarterly<\/em> (45 N4, Summer 2005), 391.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Weber, 109.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Ibid., 70.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Ibid., 72.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Wendell Berry, \u201cRacism and the Economy,\u201d in The Art of the Commonplace<\/em> (Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 2002), 59.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Weber, 70.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> In Turkana (and many other \u201ctraditional\u201d places, the question is, \u201cwho are your family?\u201d).<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Ibid., 53. cf. Ringer, 123: \u201cThe Puritan wanted<\/em> to be a vocational man; we must<\/em> be vocational men.\u201d<\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> Ringer, 123. Ringer is referring to what Weber calls the \u201ciron cage;\u201d though some translators prefer \u201csteel shell.\u201d<\/p>\n

[16]<\/a> Ibid., 55.<\/p>\n

[17]<\/a> Murove, 403.<\/p>\n

[18]<\/a> D.W. Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s<\/em> (London: Routledge, 1989), 43.<\/p>\n

[19]<\/a> Ibid, 272.<\/p>\n

[20]<\/a> Weber, 8.<\/p>\n

[21]<\/a> Murove, 407, cf. 405. He suggests this in order for capitalism to become more viable in Africa, but I imagine his suggestions would be useful in other contexts as well. Wendell Berry, for one, would resonate with this, I believe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Max Weber\u2019s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is considered one of the most important 20th century works on sociology.[1] Capitalism has existed in various forms and to various degrees throughout history, as has greed and wealth. But not until the sixteenth century did its modern form rise to become the dominant global […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12,811,15,388,812,770,813,11],"class_list":["post-11512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bebbington","tag-berry","tag-bevans","tag-capitalism","tag-freedom","tag-identity","tag-ubuntu","tag-weber","cohort-lgp7"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11512\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}