Max Weber’s Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

Capitalism as religion: a bolstered defense

“…10 "takes Franklin to be what we would today perceive as the style of an earnest and evangelical business guru." 11 However, as Alastair Hamilton indicates, it has been objected that Weber misread Franklin insofar as the view of the quoted passage by Franklin is not to be identified with Franklin' s. 12 This objection yet can be answered on Weber' s behalf by claiming that it is secondary whether Franklin embraced the view of the passage at stake. What is crucial is that this passage spells out a properly capitalist mentality or ethos which Weber names the "spirit [Geist] of capitalism."…”

The Forgotten Factor: The Uneasy Relationship between Religion and Development

“…Instead it should be present in a marginal capacity to the other dimensions of society, as a private motivating force for the individual (Towler, 1974). This idea is explored in Weber's seminal text, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904-5/1930), in which he presents the thesis that Protestantism (and most significantly Calvinism within this) inspired a ''spirit of capitalism'' unseen in other religious traditions which ''stand in the way'' of the development of rational capitalism (Weber, 1904(Weber, -5/1930Hamilton, 2000).…”

“…His thesis has, unsurprisingly, been widely criticized on the grounds that it is dismissive of other religious traditions and that it had little academic grounding, leading to misinterpretations and mistakes. Yet as Hamilton (2000) states, ''it is just as difficult to demolish Weber's thesis as it is to substantiate it''.…”

Servant or CEO? A metaphor analysis of leadership in a nonprofit context

“…This uneasyjuxtaposition of formal authority contrasted with individual rights and priorities is ubiquitous in the west and mirrors the historical development of Protestantism. According to Hamilton (2000), Weber was among the first to identify these two competing foci in Protestantism. Liberal Protestantism (Lutheranism), argues Weber, was characterized by the development of clerical authority and hierarchy combined with a passive laity.…”

“…Liberal Protestantism (Lutheranism), argues Weber, was characterized by the development of clerical authority and hierarchy combined with a passive laity. The later emerging Calvinist bodies were more flexible, less hierarchical, and placed much more emphasis on individual autonomy (Hamilton, 2000). Turner (1991) argues that this dual focus on institutional order and individual meaning persists resulting in "a plurality of values in competition with each other" (p. xv).…”