The body of scholarship surrounding Max Weber’s writings is vast and complex. The following interpretation of Weber’s Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is a result of an engagement with many Weberian scholars. Given the fact that Weber’s works on Islam were incomplete at the time of his death, many scholars believe his interpretation of Islam and the centrality of religion in the establishment of modern capitalism was credulous, but in need of some maturation. My application and interpretation of Weber is thus an attempt to comprehend an intricate social phenomenon, and it may be at odds with the more enlightened reader’s interpretations. However, both neo-Weberians and critics of Weber are acknowledged in my theoretical overview in an attempt to do justice to these scholarly groups.
Max Weber identified the Protestant work ethic as that practised by the ideal type of person who shows an aptitude for the pursuit of profit through rationalised and systematised means. He identified a set of characteristics within individuals of Protestant beliefs, which were conducive to the acquisition of wealth. Many scholars have studied and debated the PWE and have highlighted the attributes in Protestants which enabled them to reach economic success. These include, among others, frugality, punctuality and a strong sense of duty. Hamilton- Attwell (1998:82) also identifies the following to be present: feelings of guilt; beliefs that injustice in the community resides in people rather than in social institutions; ambition; church attendance; authoritarianism; external focus of control; pay satisfaction; and a willingness to do repetitive work. It should be understood in this context that Protestantism proclaimed work to be a form of prayer and the consequent acquisition of material possessions to be a sign of grace (Andreski, 1964:8). Parboteeah, Hoegl and Cullen (2009:122) state:
Weber’s Protestant work ethic, proposed that a work ethic derived from Protestant beliefs, and in particular, Calvinism, lay at the root of the development of capitalism and industrial work organizations. His main argument was that Protestantism encouraged their adherents to value their social and economic environment, particularly emphasizing the value of work in their daily lives and ‘the disciplined and austere pursuit of gain, and the attitude appropriate to the growth of capitalism’.
57 Protestants, imbued with such attitudes, would be driven to conduct economic
activities with diligence. Furthermore, Protestantism was also seen as encouraging adherents to use the fruits of their hard work with special care. Spending these material blessings on personal enjoyment was seen as the path to sinfulness and Protestants thus wisely reinvested their profits in their economic activities.
Weber states that Protestants went about their economic activities rationally and frugally. This rationality includes long-term calculation and the depersonalisation of economic activities. The Protestant does not seek power and recognition and “avoided ostentation, unnecessary expenditure, the conscious enjoyment of power, and outward signs of social recognition” (Arslan, 2001:322). Arslan (2001:322) substantiates this by stating:
The PWE believer gets nothing out of his or her wealth except the religious sense of having done his or her job well according to puritan ethic. It is this belief that no doubt seemed to pre-capitalistic man so incomprehensible and mysterious, and so unworldly. The man who has the spirit of capitalism is reliable, honest, rational, courageous and work-oriented.
Max Weber identified the characteristics of Protestants (particularly of the Calvinist groups) to be the most conducive in acquiring wealth and being economically successful. One can argue, therefore, that given white (Afrikaans) South Africans’ religious historical trajectory, the majority of white, middle-aged South Africans were raised according to a PWE and therefore display the characteristics that lead to economic prosperity. This does not necessarily mean that all the respondents were Christians. Weber argued, however, that other conditions, in addition to Protestant’s particular work ethic, also contributed to the establishment of modern capitalism in its rationalised and systematised manner.
Uyger (2007:186) states that Weber did not claim that Calvinism, per se, led to the “Spirit of Capitalism,” but rather that the coexistence of Calvinist ideas and a capitalistic spirit led to the establishment of modern industrial capitalist ideas. On a technical note, Swedberg (1999:575) further adds that Weber preferred one to speak of “modes of capitalistic orientation of profit-making" rather than of “capitalism". He continues to say that “capitalism, as Weber saw it does not so much constitute a fixed structure as a constellation of social economic action which is constantly being done and undone” (Swedberg, 1999:575). Weber, in his mind, did therefore not merely refer to one fixed type of capitalism that one can identify through the use of objective criteria, but rather as modes of capitalistic
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action swayed by cultural and religious specifics which proved more or less successful given the society.
To Weber, these modes of capitalistic action proved the most fruitful in Protestant societies guided by Calvinist ideas and values. Randal Collins (1980:926), however, claims that Weber (in his later years and close to his death) revised his introduction to the Protestant ethic whilst presenting more mature arguments on the topic. In the model which Weber presents in his
General Economic History, he does not mention the doctrine of predestination in Calvinism
as central to his thesis (Collins, 1980:926; 934):
But his claims for its importance in the overall scheme of things were not large, and the well-rounded model which he presents in General Economic History does not even mention the doctrine of predestination. Instead, what we find is a predominantly institutional theory, in which religious organization plays a key role in the rise of modern capitalism but especially in con-junction with particular forms of political organization … But in the mature Weber, the thesis is greatly transformed. Protestantism is only the last intensification of one of the chains of factors leading to rational capitalism. Moreover, its effect now is conceived to be largely negative, in the sense that it removes one of the last institutional obstacles diverting the motivational impetus of Christianity away from economic rationalization.
Weber argued, in contrast, that neither these conditions nor these religious attributes were present in Islamic societies and this impeded the development of their modern capitalistic nations. It is, however, important to note that the characteristics of the PWE elucidated by the abovementioned scholars do not differ significantly from the Quran’s specifications on a Muslim’s approach towards work. Fundamental to Weber’s thesis is what he terms “worldly asceticism”. “The religious ideals of work, thrift and enrichment without enjoyment and by means of work only, constitute what Weber calls ‘worldly asceticism’” (Andreski, 1964:8). The notion of asceticism is important in our exploration of work ethics. Some respondents commented on the pleasure their colleagues derived from “drinking tea and playing games” rather than working. Work as a means to an end versus work as an end in itself points to the variant value systems of both cultural groups.
One of the hurdles in achieving a capitalistic spirit in Islamic societies, as identified by Weber, is the underlying fatalistic assumptions of Sufism. However, on closer inspection, this is contradicted by the notion central to early Sufism of “aestheticism and simplicity of life”
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(Michel, 2005:341). It is for this reason I have to take a moment and discuss Weber’s position on Islam, with particular reference to Sufism.