Max Weber The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
This text was published as a two-part study in 1904-5. It not only pointed the way to Weber’s future work but itself became the centre of a long-running controversy. Distinguished by passionate writing and bold theorisation the argument has attracted attention far outside the boundaries of sociology. Those who invoke the notion of a ‘Protestant work ethic’ may not have read Weber but they are not wrong to echo his belief that the ‘rationalisation of labour’ was a decisive feature of modernity.
Weber’s work was prompted by his concern that the German Empire was still socially backward compared with the United States and Britain, have failed to develop a sufficiently assertive and public spirited bourgeoisie and middle class during the long rule of Bismarck. He believed that the Anglo-Saxon commitment to economic and social freedom was a source of strength and that it was rooted in secularised impulses stemming from the sectarian versions of Protestantism which had been so influential in their history since the seventeenth century.
Weber’s essay is often seen as a response to the growing influence of historical materialism or Marxism in the Germany of his day, with the growth of a large Social Democratic Party.
Weber stressed - against the materialist reductionism of some Marxists - that ideas and beliefs could have a large influence on the course of history, specifically that sectarian Protestantism promoted a ‘worldly asceticism’ and notion of a ‘calling’ or secular vocation which was conducive to the rationalisation of labour. If early twentieth century Germans recognised this they could improve and strengthen the institutions of the Empire.
While Weber had different political objectives to the Marxists, his understanding of the material practices of capitalism owed a lot to Marx. Like Marx he writes of a distinctive ‘rational capitalist organisation of (formally) free labour’ ( p. 21); the capitalist enterprise calculates wages and prices in order to make a surplus and is defined by this not the simple lust for profit. Furthermore the opening pages of the Protestant Ethic spell out a whole sequence of material practices seen as crucial to capitalist development in early modern Europe: notably the rise of autonomous towns, the separation of enterprise and household, and double entry book-keeping. Unlike contemporary Marxist historians (e.g.Robert Brenner) Weber says little about the agrarian roots of capitalism, (though see hints on p. 35 and 55).
But Weber does insist that there must have been social-psychological presuppositions for the emergence of capitalist institutions and that in the European case a rationalising approach to labour had been the unintended consequence of the Reformation
The core of Weber’s argument is that with Luther’s notion of the ‘calling’ the monk’s ideal of an ascetic life became incumbent on all believers. It was taken out of the monasteries and required all to single-mindedly and methodically dedicate themselves to their work - and shun idleness and luxury - whatever their station in life. Protestant teaching, especially that of Calvin, imbued the individual with a sense of original sin; a sober and industrious life would be the sign or proof of salvation.
In the ‘Protestant Ethic’ Weber argues that the Calvinist belief in predestination furnished a constant inner guarantee of consistent conduct; in a later text on the Protestant sects he urges that each eliever takes care to pursue a restrained, godly life because of concern for the opinion of fellow-believers.
There has been much debate over Weber’s specific interpretation of Protestant theology, a classic instance being the famous critique by the English social historian R.H.Tawney. There is evidence that Calvinism was sometimes associated with collectivism and restraints on merchants as in John Winthrop’s Massachusetts. But all that is necessary for Weber’s argument is that some strands in Protestantism help to give rise to mentalities that underpinned early capitalist rationalisation and accumulation. Weber himself illustrates his case by quotes from Benjamin Franklin, a man of affairs rather than a theologian. Weber does not insist that Protestantism is the only route to preparing mentalities that will hel to sustain and reproduce capitalist social relations - simply that in early modern Europe they did play this role.