Religion And Social Change Flashcards
Religion can be seen as a conservative force in two senses:
1.Religion is often seen as a conservative force in the sense that it is traditional, defending traditional customs, institutions, moral views and roles.
2. Religion is often seen as a conservative force in the sense that it conserves and maintains things as they are. It stabilises society and helps to maintain the status quo.
WEBER: RELIGION AS A FORCE FOR CHANGE.
For Max Weber religion could act as a force for social change.
In his book the ‘The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism’ he argues that the religious beliefs of Calvinism (a form of Protestantism) helped to bring about the emergence of modern capitalism in Europe during the 16th and 17th century.
Capitalism then and now (Weber)
Weber notes that past societies had capitalism in the sense of greed for wealth and luxury consumption.
Modern capitalism is different. It is based on the systematic, rational pursuit of profit for its own sake.
Weber calls this ‘the spirit of capitalism’. He thought it was similar to ‘calvinist’ beliefs.
What calvinists believed
Predestination
AsceticIsm
The idea of vocation and calling
The idea that the only thing Calvinists understood of gods plan was that they were put on this earth to glorify gods name through work
Predestination (what Calvinists believe)
Calvinists believed that only a few had been chosen for heaven. This created anxiety- no one knew who had been chosen.
Asceticism (what calvinists believed)
(severe self-discipline and avoiding of all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons.)
Working hard in your job was a solution to this anxiety. Success might be a sign that you were chosen for heaven. Early Calvinists lived a strict and disciplined life of hard work and simple pleasures. (THINK ABOUT MONKS!) This apparently led to the right workers boosting profits. Religion indirectly caused change!
The idea of vocation and calling
Before Calvinism, this meant serving god through joining a convent or ministry. Weber called this other-worldly asceticism. However, Calvinists introduced for the first time the notion of worldly asceticism.
The idea that the only thing Calvinists understood of gods plan was that they were put on this earth to glorify gods name through work.
They were required to work constantly in an occupation. However, this did not earn salvation it was simply a religious duty. For Calvinists idleness was a sin!
Calvinist ideas had 2 consequences
- Their hard work performed a psychological function. It provided them with a way of coping with their salvation panic. They saw their increased wealth as sign of gods favor and their salvation. This went against the idea of gods ‘will’ being ‘unknown’.
- They did not spend their increased wealth on luxuries, they reinvested the profits. As a result, businesses grew and according to Weber so did the very spirit of capitalism. Whereby the accumulation of more and more money is an end in itself. Calvinism thus bought capitalism into the world as we know it.
Hinduism and confucianism
It is important to note that Weber was not claiming that Calvinism was the ONLY reason for the emergence of capitalism in the 16th and 17th century. He gave recognition to other material and economic factors that were necessary, too.
On the other hand, he points to other societies which although were more economically advanced than Europe, (China & India) their belief system meant that they were not driven towards capitalism. I.E: They were not so fussed about asceticism- more about this-worldly concerns!
Evaluation
- Unlike Marxism Weber argues that there can be more that just economic factors that were behind the modern notion of capitalism. (‘Arguing with Marx’s ghost!’)
- Marxist, Karl Kautsky (1927): Weber has underestimated the economic factors in the establishment of capitalism and that in fact Capitalism preceded rather than followed Calvinism.
- Tawney (1926): It was technological advancement and not religious beliefs that founded capitalism. That it was in fact only after the establishment of capitalism that the bourgeoisies started to follow Calvinism.
- Not all societies where Calvinism was present did capitalism take hold. E.G: in Scotland, capitalism was slow to emerge despite a large Calvinist population.
Weberian’s response to this?: A lack of economic investment prohibited the development of capitalism and that without this the Calvinist belief could not have won through!
