Weber and the Protestant Work Ethic

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Weber and the Protestant Work Ethic
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Origin

• Weber proposed a theory to help explain the
  development of capitalism in Western Europe.
• First proposed his theory in a two part paper
  published in 1904 1905.
• Stressed the role of ascetic Protestantism in the
  development of modern captialism and the growth
  seen in parts of Western Europe during the
  1500 s and beyond.

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Theory

• Weber stated that Protestantism, specifically
  Calvanism, played a large role in the development
  of capitalism. However, it had no part in
  sustaining it, rather capitalism grew on its own
  once in place.
• Protestantism was singled out as the catalyst,
  however Weber believed that it could potentially
  be another force. His only criteria was that it
  be a radical cultural force that broke through
  traditional beliefs and attitudes.
• This was of course contingent on other factors
  being present, such as economic, technical and
  political factors.

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• Spirit of Capitalism and the growing
  accumulation of wealth.
• Cultural shift under capitalist rationalization.
  Capitalism becoming the culture.
• Weber was curious about the source of this
  culture. He did not accept a purely materialistic
  view.
• Led him to the connection between the Protestant
  Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. 

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Protestantism

• Why the Protestants?
• Salvation, doctrinal shifts and the growth of
  personal wealth.
• Calvinists as the first.
• Opposite of Catholics.
• The blending of Protestand Ethic and Spirit of
  Capitalism into one.

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Criticism

• Webers incomplete theory helped fuel criticism.
• Two main criticisms.
• Middle ground?

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Catholicism

• Catholic community vs. Protestant community.
• Ones path to salvation.
• Charity and poverty.

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Present Day

• Webers theory in present day economics.
• Reluctance by economists to blend disciplines.
• Source Howard, Michael C. One Hundred Years From
  Today Max Webers the Protestant Ethic and the
  Spirit of Capitalism. History of Economics
  Review, vol. 0, no. 42, Summer 2005, pp.
  100-103.

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Max Weber

• Roman Catholics are assured of their salvation
  from their belief in the sacraments and by
  following the authority of the Churchs
  hierarchy.
• He believed that the protestant ethic had removed
  such assurances of salvation.

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Salvation

• By lacking their assurance of salvation,
  protestants were led abroad for new answers
• Success as a new medium to salvation
• Out of this emerges Calvinism

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Calvinism

• Calvinism is a theological system and an approach
  to Christian life that emphasizes Gods
  sovereignty in all things. It falls within the
  realm of Protestant Christianity and is sometimes
  called the Reformed tradition or Reformed
  theology.

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Reformation

• Rising importance of Reformed Churches belongs to
  the second phase of the Protestant Reformation
• Evangelical churches began to form

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A spread across Europe

• His ideas about the reformed church across Europe
  and began to emerge in countries such as Germany,
  France, Hungary

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Calvinism Continued

• Concept of Predestination
• No longer can good/faithful acts automatically
  lead to the path of heaven
• Either among the elect or not
• Wealth taken as a sign of the elect

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Continued Some more

• A clear incentive for acquiring wealth
• Thus, Calvinism (so also, the protestant ethic)
  led to a religious outlook that placed emphasis
  on discipline that encouraged men to acquire
  wealth

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Why is this important?

• I dont know
• Just kidding
• Webers intention was to demonstrate a
  relationship between Calvinism and a form of
  capitalism, deeming it important.

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Barro and McCleary

• Costs include not only time but resources
  expended on buildings, precious objects and so
  on.
• Believing (values) relative to belonging (or
  attending) is the main channel through which
  religion matters for economic and other outcomes

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Blum and Dudley
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Europe Today
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Economic Networks

• Protestant Europe created a distributed economic
  network that spread across state borders.
• new arbitrage opportunities available in cities
  bordering on the Atlantic
• Information available from Protestant printing
  centers-Catholic ones were censored

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Divergence Between North/South

• Growth of real wage and population
• Urban population growth
• 5x greater in protestant regions than Catholic
  ones
• Literacy
• Protestant now (1750) more literate
• English males 60 vs. French males 40

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Catholic Urban Literacy Network (1750)
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The Protestant Urban Literacy Network (1750)
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Blum and Dudleys Conclusions

• European economic growth prior to 1750 was
  actually not Malthusian
• Webers individual protestant work ethic not
  strongly supported
• Literacy along with a higher honoring of
  contracts created a close knit network of
  Protestants

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Religion in China

• Traditional Chinese religions
• Confucianism
• system of social and ethical philosophy
• Daoism
• indefinable, unifying force at the centre of the
  universe
• Buddhism
• Buddha taught that in life there exists sorrow/
  suffering which is caused by desire and it can be
  cured by following the Noble Eightfold Path

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Non-Traditional Religions

• Islam
• Christianity

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History of Christianity in China

• Developed since at least 7th century AD
• 1807 Chinese translation of Bible by missionary
• Divided into 2 main categories
• Protestant (????)
• Catholic (????)

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Communism Era

• Communist Party discouraged the practice of
  religion not only because it was atheist, but
  also believed religion was a dangerous
  alternative set of beliefs to communism
• 1982 constitution amended thanks to Deng
  Xiaoping's views, and freedom of religion was
  allowed.

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• Catholics worship through the Chinese Catholic
  Patriotic Association rather than the Roman
  Catholic Church

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QuestionWhere do you think China stands?Do you
think religion has had any impact on its economic
growth?