1 / 19

Religion & Social Change

Religion & Social Change. Key text: Max Weber – The Protestant Ethic & the Spirit of Capitalism (1905). Max Weber Vs Marx’s Ghost. Weber at war with Marx’s ghost. Marx - ECONOMY = CHANGE IN RELIGION Weber RELIGION = CHANGE IN ECONOMY Weber challenges the materialism and economic

brownarlene
Download Presentation

Religion & Social Change

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Religion & Social Change Key text: Max Weber – The Protestant Ethic & the Spirit of Capitalism (1905)

  2. Max Weber Vs Marx’s Ghost

  3. Weber at war with Marx’s ghost Marx - ECONOMY = CHANGE IN RELIGION Weber RELIGION = CHANGE IN ECONOMY Weber challenges the materialism and economic determinism of Marxist theory. Weber notes how society is shaped by human ideas rather than action directed by ideology that is manipulated by an economic elite.

  4. Weber and Industrialisation • Weber studied how societies ‘took off’ • Interested in the variables that led to economic growth and the rise of industrial society • Conducted a comparative analysis of many societies and identified the main factor that caused the birth of the industrial age

  5. Overview page 13-14 • Read the sections on Weber: Religion as a force for change. • How did Calvanism shape capitalism?

  6. That key factor was…. The Protestant faith

  7. More precisely ASCETIC CALVINIST PROTESTANTISM THE RISE OF WESTERN CAPITALISM

  8. John Calvin

  9. The importance of Calvinism • ‘the elect’ – chosen to go to heaven – set by God before birth • Led to a psychological problem – ‘how did a Calvinist know that they had been chosen’ ? • Solution ‘ only CHOSEN PEOPLE would live a good life on Earth – so model behaviour was the goal’

  10. The model behaviour was known as…. THE PROTESTANT ETHIC and this led to the rise of capitalism

  11. The Protestant Ethic This was an Ascetic • Abstaining from life’s pleasures • Living an austere lifestyle • Having strict self-discipline

  12. ‘Calling’ • Humans have a calling • This is their career – their way to please God • Hard work in one’s career was a sign of obedience and respect to God

  13. ‘making money’ • This was a sign of success and that you were pleasing God ‘being frugal’ • People could not waste their wealth on luxuries • Money should be reinvested into businesses

  14. The Protestant churches disapproved of… • Time wasting • Laziness • Idle gossip • People sleeping more than needed • Sexual intercourse (only for procreation) • Hedonism (frivolous pub/dance-hall/ gambling) • Sport for entertainment (only for health)

  15. Ascetic Protestantism attitude to wealth • This attitude led to the creation of more profit and wealth • Helped the rise of capitalism = INVESTMENT • Capitalism is based upon: rational organisation and action – a degree of self control and planning

  16. The effect of the Protestant Ethic • These ethics led to – duties/obligations = a methodological, single-minded pursuit of a calling • Hard work • The rise of rational capitalism

  17. Question to consider “According to Max Weber, how did the Protestant religion lead to the rise of capitalist economy”

  18. The death of religion? • Protestantism would sow the seeds of its own downfall • Rationale attitude to life ----- ‘this world focused’----control ----efficiency ----instrumental ----THIS WOULD LEAD TO ACCUMULATING WEALTH FOR WEALTH’S SAKE! • This would result to ‘WORSHIP OF MONEY’… .vanity..self-obsession..greed

  19. Critique • Calvinism – was against the pursuit of wealth (Stombart) • Many Calvinist nations were slow to develop • Calvinism emerged where industry had already developed (Kautsky) • Exclusion = not Calvinist faith but their exclusion from mainstream society that was the key

More Related