A Summary of Max Weber's Protestantism-Capitalism Thesis

Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is a study on the origin of modern capitalism. In this book, Weber identifies the Protestant (particularly Calvinist) ethic as the driving force that led to the development of capitalism. This famous thesis, known as the “Weber thesis”, is in a sense paradoxical, in stating that the spirit of capitalism is rooted not in greediness or the mere pursuit of profit, but rather in the asceticism characteristic in Protestantism.

According to the doctrine of predestination in Calvinism, those individuals who are promised salvation and those individuals who will suffer eternal damnation are already decided at birth by God’s will. Regardless of one’s moral deeds or effort, this fate cannot be changed. According to Max Weber, the fear towards this uncertainty spurred people to ascetic labor. By devoting themselves to labor and achieving worldly success, the followers of Calvinism were able to gain self-confidence that they were the ones chosen for salvation. It was this longing for a sense of assurance that drove them to follow a vocation with zeal.

However, this “driving force” of economic activity does not connect directly to the development of modern capitalism alone. There is another important factor which plays as a catalyst for economic success: the concept of “rationalization”. A characteristic feature of Protestantism that separates it from Catholicism is that it banishes all forms of magical practices and rites, such as the sacrament. Weber called this “disenchantment”, and argued that this rational aspect of Protestantism formed the soil from which capitalism arose. This rationalism led followers to organize their conduct of life based on a certain methodology. They would make daily schedules, keep records of their income and expenditures, and the money they earned would not be spent on expensive luxuries (asceticism) but would instead be invested for further profit-making. It is this rational pursuit of economic gain for its own sake which Weber called "the spirit of capitalism".

What is interesting about Weber’s thesis is that it implies an anti-Marxist worldview, that ideas and religious movement shape the economic structure, and not the other way around. I believe this is a convincing argument, although it cannot be denied that Weber may have put too much emphasis on the Protestant work ethic alone as the driving force behind the rise of modern capitalism. Other aspects, such as the power structure of society and the promotion of literacy through Bible-reading should have been taken into consideration. Needless to say however, Weber’s investigation is a remarkable contribution not only to economic sociology but sociology in general, in that it has helped deepen our understanding of the cultural origins of capitalism.