I. Recap: Gift Exchange

A. Shortcomings of Mauss

1. Capitalist exchanges can be used to create links between people
2. Romanticizes non-capitalist gift exchange; human relationships can be negative, unequal

B. Giving as a means for asserting power
C. Banana leaf bundles: women as simultaneously independent of and dependent on men
D. Giving is part of a hierarchy, ebb and flow of power between individuals and groups
E. Marx's attack on supply and demand: water in a drought

1. value = labor
2. price = arbitrary figure assigned to an item, sometimes connected with supply and demand
3. capitalists manipulate price to derive profit in excess of an item's value
4. thinking of price as reflection of value is mystification
5. water in a drought has the same value as water generally
6. greedy capitalists prey on needs during scarcity to increase the gap between value and price

 

II. Max Weber (1864-1920) and Human Behavior

A. Mauss, Marx, and Weiner: capitalism violated moral ethos of non-capitalist societies
B. Weber: capitalism isn't immoral or amoral; it is rooted in a particular moral ethos of value, thrift, and saving
C. Born in Berlin, father was politician
D. Sociologist, philosopher, scholar of religion, political scientist
E. Human behavior is motivated by context
F. Cultures pattern human behavior
G. Similar to Boas' "genius of a people."

 

III. Culture and Economic Action

A. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904-5)

1. Question: "Why was capitalism created and developed in Western Europe, rather than somewhere else?"
2. Answer: historical conditions caused the emergence of cultural and religious values which created an ethos conducive to capitalism

B. Weber rejects technological explanation for capitalism

1. China: technologically advanced, but Confucianism promoted social equilibrium, harmony with the cosmos ==> no impetus to change things
2. India: well-developed trade, but Hinduism was other-worldly and caste system was force for conservatism
3. Western Europe: medieval Catholicism saw money as unclean, promoted acceptance of one's lot in life

C. Catalyst for change: Protestant Reformation leads to dynamic progress in economic activity ==> capitalism

 

IV. The Rationalization of Economic Activity

A. Main feature of capitalism: rationalization

1. Formerly free labor is organized into disciplined, methodical labor force
2. Wealth isn't used, but is saved and invested

a. self-discipline
b. asceticism

B. Production of wealth becomes an end in and of itself
C. Method of "ideal type"

1. Social life distilled to certain key and distinctive features in what Weber refers to as their "most consistent and logical forms" (98)
2. Enables comparison by isolating and exaggerating key features

 

V. Calvinism, Predestination, and the Concept of a "Calling"

A. Ben Franklin on saving and thrift
B. Propensity toward disciplined saving as key feature of capitalism
C. Ethos of capitalism predates capitalism
D. The impact of Calvinism

1. John Calvin (1509-1564)
2. Five points (TULIP) formulated by Dutch Reformed theologians at the Synod of Dort (1618 - 19)

a. Humankind is spiritually incapacitated by Sin (Total Depravity)
b. God chooses (elects) unconditionally those who will be saved (Unconditional Election)
c. The saving work of Christ is limited to those elected ones (Limited Atonement)
d. God's grace cannot be turned aside (Irresistible Grace)
e. Those whom God elects in Christ are saved forever, but they must persevere in their faith (Perseverance of the saints)

3. Predestination: God has chosen certain people to be saved. They will go to heaven, the others will not
4. Calvinism creates anxiety: people look for signs of salvation

a. Hard work: calling as a high moral obligation to fulfill your duty in worldly affairs
b. Worldly success as a sign of God's favor

 

V. The Reproduction of Capitalism: The "Iron Cage"

A. Other factors creating capitalism

1. the separation of economic activity from the household
2. cities and urban centers separate from rural areas
3. Roman law
4. nation-states
5. double-entry bookkeeping
6. the disintegration of feudal obligations which led to a free labor force

B. Calvinist belief in predestination as vital spark, made accumulation necessary and endowed pursuit of profit with moral and sacred character
C. Once capitalism emerges, it becomes self-perpetuating

1. Rationalization in bureaucratic structures reproduces modes of economic activity
2. Religious beliefs no longer necessary
3. Asceticism, thrift, and accumulation become secular virtues

D. Iron cage: "The Puritan wanted to work in a calling; we are forced to do so" (181)

1. We must have money
2. Our desire, love for money reproduces capitalism
3. We must live by the values and structures we have created

 

VI. Assessing Weber

A. Attack on Marx's historical materialism

1. Marx: infrastructure creates superstructure
2. Weber: a particular worldview -- part of the superstructure -- provides impetus for people to develop infrastructure

B. Alienated Catholics: lack discipline, impediment to economic growth
C. Alienated Protestants: iron cage
D. Is Protestant ethic necessary for capitalism?

1. Critics: Japan has capitalism without Protestant ethic
2. Weber: Protestant ethic explains emergence of capitalism in one place at one particular time. After that, it spreads to places which don't have Protestant ethic

E. Giddens' assessment of Weber

1. Calling didn't originate with Luther, Calvin, or other Protestants. Calvinism is anti-capitalist
2. Catholicism wasn't anti-capitalist
3. Calvinists weren't necessarily more entrepreneurial than Catholics
4. Weber defined capitalism so it corresponded with Protestantism
5. Causality, chicken and egg problem

F. The appeal of Weber's logic

1. Religious interests shape concrete actions and social relationships, including economic behavior
2. We all have some degree of freedom of action, but our goals and values are given to us by culture
3. Capitalism inculcates a specific form of morality which justifies and reproduces our economic system

 

For more information, contact:  aleshkow@holycross.edu