The Weber Thesis of Calvinism and Capitalism-Its Various Versions and Their “Fate” in Social Science

Abstract

The paper identifies and examines various multiple renditions of the so-called Weber Thesis of an historical association and convergence between ascetic Protestantism, above all Calvinism, and the emergence and development of modern capitalism as an economic spirit and system. Specifically, it detects at least four different versions and formulations or interpretations, thus casting doubt in the common view of the Weber Thesis as a single and monolithic theory or hypothesis. The paper also considers the status of the multiple versions of the Weber Thesis in post-Weberian and contemporary sociology and related disciplines like economics and history. It concludes that the weaker, relaxed renditions of the Weber Thesis have attained a greater success and more endured in contemporary social science than have its stronger, stricter versions.

Technoscientific control of nature: The ultimate paradox

“…Termed variously as "creative destruction," "planned obsolescence," "commodity fetishism," or "consumerist society," this "monumental transformation of capitalism" from the mid-19th century onward has been the subject of renewed scholarly and general interest in recent years. Weber's famous (albeit controversial) work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904Capitalism ( /1905, is of particular significance for its discussion of the moral issues FICHMAN | 419 embedded in the historical record and their later demotion or subversion (Zafirovski, 2016). Weber argued that certain branches of ascetic Protestantism had supported worldly activities dedicated to economic gain, seeing them as endowed with moral and spiritual significance.…”