{"id":28249,"date":"2022-02-19T01:17:49","date_gmt":"2022-02-19T09:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=28249"},"modified":"2022-02-19T14:15:01","modified_gmt":"2022-02-19T22:15:01","slug":"the-elusive-root-cause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-elusive-root-cause\/","title":{"rendered":"The Elusive Root Cause"},"content":{"rendered":"

What influenced the development of the capitalistic way of life? This is the question Max Weber sought to address in The Protestant Ethic and the \u201cSpirit\u201d of Capitalism (and Other Writings)<\/em>. Weber (1864-1920) wrote this treatise in 1905 (the book in which it is found also includes the back-and-forth written conversations he had with critiques of his work).[1]<\/a> Credited with developing modern social science, he applied his professions of sociology and history to finding an answer to this question in the ethics of ascetic Protestantism\u2014the strict self-discipline and work-as-vocation\/calling praxes that arose in post-Reformation Protestant Europe. He postulates these practices arose out of anxiety over how one could know with certainty that one was saved\u2014an anxiety he associated with Calvin\u2019s doctrine of predestination.<\/p>\n

The Protestant Ethic<\/em> is classified by the Library of Congress under their large Religion, Psychology, and Philosophy umbrella, and specifically under Christianity in Relation to Special Subjects. Weber gave his treatise an introduction and five chapters (the book of which it is a part also includes a very helpful notes section and suggestions for further reading in addition to the written exchange between Weber and several of his critics). In the first three chapters he addresses the problem he is trying to solve with great nuance, often spending more time describing what he is not going to address. In chapters four and five he develops his take on the connections between the doctrine of predestination, the emotional impact of this doctrine on everyday people and preachers, the resultant development of everyday life practices (especially the view on work and poverty), and the correlation this had with the development of what he calls the \u201cSpirit\u201d of capitalism.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Weber\u2019s thesis has generated a great deal of criticism and discussion over the years. Jason Paul Clark, in chapter three of his dissertation, Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship<\/em>,[3]<\/a> gives a very helpful summary of these critiques. I found especially helpful his conversation with theological critics of Weber\u2019s work. He notes that Weber misunderstood Calvin and his portrayal of the doctrine of predestination[4]<\/a> (something that bothered me a great deal in reading Weber). But more importantly I appreciated how Clark utilized Weber\u2019s thinking and misunderstanding (and its influence over the decades) to further his own research hypothesis.<\/p>\n

Clark highlights Andre Bi\u00e9ler\u2019s concept of the \u201cProtestant occupational asceticism,\u201d saying: \u201cBie\u0301ler describes how this ethic stimulates production, whilst [sic<\/em>] the ascetic stops consumption, such that the capitalist spirit is to produce much and consume little.\u201d[5]<\/a> Later, summarizing Guy Oakes, Clark says, \u201cWeber was correct in suggesting a link between a Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, whilst being wrong about the doctrinal premise behind that ethic and its relationship to Calvinism as a theological doctrine.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

Milan Zafirovski offers another important critique of Weber\u2019s treatise.[7]<\/a> He critiques Weber\u2019s assumption of the uniqueness of Calvin\u2019s doctrine of predestination and thus its causal role (admitted by Weber as being one influence among others) in the development of the \u201cspirit\u201d of capitalism. His critique investigates the similarity and distinctions between Calvin\u2019s formulation and that of Augustine, Aquinas, and Muhammad. He finds that Calvin\u2019s formulation is not significantly different, and that concerns and anxieties over the security of one\u2019s salvation existed in the ancient church and world, down through the ages into the Reformation period, Enlightenment, and the era of Industrialization and until today.[8]<\/a> He raises the question of why then did the \u201cspirit\u201d of capitalism not arise in earlier periods to challenge the spirit of fatalism (or in Weber\u2019s vernacular, the spirit of traditionalism) that was present in ancient times just as it was at the time of Calvin?<\/p>\n

So, I am left wrestling with my blog title\u2014the elusive root cause(s) of the \u201cspirit\u201d of capitalism. Clark\u2019s hypothesis provides one helpful lens for better understanding the role of evangelicalism in this history. The movement from assurance to providence (sourced from Bebbington) and the connection that has with vocation\/call and work (Weber\u2019s contribution) is critical to keep in mind. As is the emphasis Clark places on how evangelical communities have provided identity for people, as well as \u2018islands of social care\u2019 amid a rapidly developing and changing capitalistic world.[9]<\/a> But still, the sociological, political, and historical soup out of which the \u201cspirit\u201d of capitalism emerged remains convoluted and complex with no one root cause.<\/p>\n

These readings and my conversation with all the authors have interacted closely with my organization\u2019s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training held this week. We were discussing the role of capitalism in perpetuating inequities of access to both opportunities and resources and the implications this has for our communal and individual discipleship and how we understand poverty and those impacted by poverty. Clark notes this challenge when he references Miroslav Volf\u2019s book, Work in the Spirit: Toward a Theology of Work<\/em>, saying: \u201cVolf argues that the Reformers\u2019 understanding of work as vocation can lead to injustice as it reinforces the status quo, which might then include forced, dangerous, and exploited labour [sic]<\/em>.\u201d[10]<\/a> The questions I am sitting with are: what is the alternative to the \u201cspirit\u201d of capitalism that is the global air we breathe (certainly other economic systems have their deficits as well), what practical discipleship steps (both communal and individual) can I\/we take to move in a more sustainable direction (especially since my tradition’s understanding of work\/vocation\/call has contributed to the economic system that now governs the globe), and are we sick and tired enough of the \u201cmachine\u201d (as Weber describes it) and its destructive consequences to forge something new or at least insist on some significant corrections\/adaptations (and what might those be)?[11]<\/a><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Weber, Max, Peter Baehr, and Gordon C. Wells. 2002. The Protestant Ethic and the \u201cSpirit\u201d of Capitalism and Other Writings<\/em>. Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics. New York: Penguin Books.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid., 8.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Clark, Jason Paul, “Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship” (2018). Faculty Publications – Portland Seminary. 132. https:\/\/digitalcommons.georgefox.edu\/gfes\/132<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid., 81.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid., 82, referencing Andre\u0301 Bie\u0301ler, Edward Dommen, and James Greig, Calvin\u2019s Economic and Social Thought <\/em>(Geneva: World Alliance of Reformed Churches, World Council of Churches, 2006), 434-435.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Ibid., 94, referencing Guy Oakes, \u201cThe Thing That Would Not Die: Notes on Refutation,\u201d in Lehmann and Roth, eds., Protestant Ethic<\/em>, 293.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Milan Zafirovski, Calvinist Predestination and the Spirit of Capitalism: The Religious Argument of the Weber Thesis Reexamined<\/em>, Human Studies (2018) 41:565\u2013602 https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10746-018-9481-9.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Ibid., 570-572.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Clark, 107-108.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Ibid., 81.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Weber, 120-121.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What influenced the development of the capitalistic way of life? This is the question Max Weber sought to address in The Protestant Ethic and the \u201cSpirit\u201d of Capitalism (and Other Writings). Weber (1864-1920) wrote this treatise in 1905 (the book in which it is found also includes the back-and-forth written conversations he had with critiques […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"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":[388,366,590,2220,11],"class_list":["post-28249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-capitalism","tag-evangelicalism","tag-poverty","tag-root-causes","tag-weber","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28249","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\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28249"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28256,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28249\/revisions\/28256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}