The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

by Max Weber, Stephen Kalberg (Editor), Stephen Kalberg (Translator)

Overview

For the first time in 70 years, a new translation of Max Weber's classic The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism --one of the seminal works in sociology-- published in September 2001. Translator Stephen Kalberg is an internationally acclaimed Weberian scholar, and in this new translation he offers a precise and nuanced rendering that captures both Weber's style and the unusual subtlety of his descriptions and causal arguments. Weber's original italicization, highlighting major themes, has been restored, and Kalberg has standardized Weber's terminology to better facilitate understanding of the various twists and turns in his complex lines of reasoning.

Weber's compelling work remains influential for these reasons: it explores the continuing debate regarding the origins and legacy of modem capitalism in the West; it helps the reader understand today's global economic development; and it plumbs the deep cultural forces that affect contemporary work life and the workplace in the United States and Europe.

This new edition/translation also includes a glossary; Weber's 1906 essay, "The Protestant Sects and the Spirit of Capitalism"; and Weber's masterful prefatory remarks to his Collected Essays in the Sociology of Religion, in which he defines the uniqueness of Western societies and asks what "ideas and interests" combined to create modem Western rationalism

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781579583385
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/01/2001
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	348
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Max Weber (1864-1920). One of the founding fathers of modern sociology.

Table of Contents

Introduction by Stephen Kalberg

Translator's Preface by Stephen Kalberg

Glossary

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

Part I. The Problem

1. Religious Affiliation and Social Stratification

2. The Spirit of Capitalism

3. Luther's Conception of the Calling

a. Task of the Investigation

Part II. The Vocational Calling of Ascetic Protestantism

4. The Religious Foundations of This-Worldly Asceticism

a. Calvinism

b. Pietism

c. Methodism

d. The Baptizing Sects: The Quakers, Baptists, and Mennonites

5. Asceticism and the Spirit of Capitalism

"The Protestant Sects and the Spirit of Capitalism"

Prefatory Remarks to Collected Essays in the Sociology of Religion

Editorial Reviews

Max Weber is the one undisputed canonical figure in contemporary sociology.

Times Higher Education Supplement

Arguing that classic works should be translated every generation, and that the essay here was last translated into English some 70 years ago, Kalberg (sociology, Boston U.) strives to make the text accessible to undergraduates and general readers and to retain the integrity of the work with a close-to-the-text translation. In addition to the essay itself, which was published in a two parts in a social science journal in 1904-05, he has included two related documents by Weber (1864-1920). Cited in . Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

'Ought to be a set text for the No Logo fan club.' - Steven Poole, Guardian

From the Publisher