Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

[Shevek]

Keep in mind Weber also talks about the state as conducive to the development of capitalism. Protestant culture laid the foundations for competitive industry, but it hasn't remained this way. The West became ruled by secular bureaucratic rule, and this was the logical result of bestowing authority onto the Protestant principles of efficiency and thrift. I don't agree with this at all, because clearly capitalism has developed and is still developing in places where Protestantism is not the main religion. His point about the state growing with and shaping capitalism, however, is useful and can be supported better by history. Unlike Marx's account where the state is merely a tool of capitalists, Weber seems to suggest that the bureaucratic modern state is inseparable from capitalist principles.

[Freudian Monkey]

Keep in mind Weber also talks about the state as conducive to the development of capitalism. Protestant culture laid the foundations for competitive industry, but it hasn't remained this way. The West became ruled by secular bureaucratic rule, and this was the logical result of bestowing authority onto the Protestant principles of efficiency and thrift. I don't agree with this at all, because clearly capitalism has developed and is still developing in places where Protestantism is not the main religion. His point about the state growing with and shaping capitalism, however, is useful and can be supported better by history. Unlike Marx's account where the state is merely a tool of capitalists, Weber seems to suggest that the bureaucratic modern state is inseparable from capitalist principles.

Could there be a difference between the development of capitalism and merely adopting the capitalistic model from other (presumably more developed) nations? Maybe the Third World countries aren't necessarily developing their own capitalism, instead they merely adopt it directly from the West.

[Shevek]

Could there be a difference between the development of capitalism and merely adopting the capitalistic model from other (presumably more developed) nations? Maybe the Third World countries aren't necessarily developing their own capitalism, instead they merely adopt it directly from the West.

I would say capitalism in China is a lot different from capitalism in Canada and the USA, and Western European capitalism different from both. The beliefs of liberalism did not motivate China to industrialize, yet they played a large part in the industrialization of the West. We can debate whether China's alleged lack of liberalism will lead to its economic decline, but my point is that Weber's focus on culture as the ultimate origin of capitalism is misguided. I do not think capitalist economies in Third World countries popped out of a vacuum -- surely they were heavily influenced by Western practices and intervention -- but there are significant differences between them that are obscured when capitalism is conflated with Protestant culture.