“Founding fathers” Karl Marx and Max Weber
Religion as a social phenomenon
The early history of the sociology of religion
- Comte (1798-1857)
- Positivism = positivic ambition to study the humanities the way
science is systematically studied
- Marx, weber, Durkheim
- What happens to religion when societies become more and more
‘modern’?
- Secularization theory
Modernity
- The present situation
- A set of interconnected structural factors?
o Industrialisation
o Urbanization
o Individualization
- A hierarchical approach to temporality
Karl Marx
- Lived in Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Cologne and London
- The communist manifesto (1848)
- Capital: critique of political economy (1867)
- The German ideology (written together with his friend Friedrich
Engels….
Marx and his materialist approach to religion
Superstructure: ideological reflexes (morality, religion, political ideas)
Structure: material conditions (mode of production, division of labour)
Religion according to Marx
- Religion cannot be understood separately from society
- Religion is embedded in power inequality
Religion as an instrument of the ruling classes to impose injustice
Religion as a popular reaction to oppression (deprivation theory)
Max Weber (1864-1920)
- Scholarly interest in political science, law, economy and history
- Die Protestantische Ethik under der Geist des Kapitalismus (1904-
1905)
, - Sociology of Religion (1922, edited by his wife Marianne)
Weber, religion and the material conditions of society
Ideology (morality, religion, political ideas)
Material conditions (mode of production, division of labour)
The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism
- ‘Elective affinity’ between specific religious ideas and the emergence
of modern capitalism
- The rise of a particular protestant (Calvinist) ethic was a necessary
condition for the emergence of a ‘spirit of capitalism’.
Modern capitalism according to Weber
- Struggle to profit free from the limits set by personal needs (rather
than a struggle to fulfil personal needs)
- Rational utilization of capital in a permanent enterprise
- Rational organization of labour
The reformation
- Luther (1483-1546)
o Worldy activities as a divine calling
- Calvin (1509-1564)
o Predestination
- Puritanism
o Looking for evidence of salvation in one’s life
The spirit of capitalism
- Mindset where people seek profit rationally and systematically
- Moral obligation to make more and more money
- Moral obligation not to waste time or money
- Avoiding the spontaneous enjoyment of life
- Weber’s ideal types: Jakob Fugger vs. Benjamin Franklin
Key insights from Weber
- Powerpoint
Religion as a social phenomenon
The early history of the sociology of religion
- Comte (1798-1857)
- Positivism = positivic ambition to study the humanities the way
science is systematically studied
- Marx, weber, Durkheim
- What happens to religion when societies become more and more
‘modern’?
- Secularization theory
Modernity
- The present situation
- A set of interconnected structural factors?
o Industrialisation
o Urbanization
o Individualization
- A hierarchical approach to temporality
Karl Marx
- Lived in Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Cologne and London
- The communist manifesto (1848)
- Capital: critique of political economy (1867)
- The German ideology (written together with his friend Friedrich
Engels….
Marx and his materialist approach to religion
Superstructure: ideological reflexes (morality, religion, political ideas)
Structure: material conditions (mode of production, division of labour)
Religion according to Marx
- Religion cannot be understood separately from society
- Religion is embedded in power inequality
Religion as an instrument of the ruling classes to impose injustice
Religion as a popular reaction to oppression (deprivation theory)
Max Weber (1864-1920)
- Scholarly interest in political science, law, economy and history
- Die Protestantische Ethik under der Geist des Kapitalismus (1904-
1905)
, - Sociology of Religion (1922, edited by his wife Marianne)
Weber, religion and the material conditions of society
Ideology (morality, religion, political ideas)
Material conditions (mode of production, division of labour)
The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism
- ‘Elective affinity’ between specific religious ideas and the emergence
of modern capitalism
- The rise of a particular protestant (Calvinist) ethic was a necessary
condition for the emergence of a ‘spirit of capitalism’.
Modern capitalism according to Weber
- Struggle to profit free from the limits set by personal needs (rather
than a struggle to fulfil personal needs)
- Rational utilization of capital in a permanent enterprise
- Rational organization of labour
The reformation
- Luther (1483-1546)
o Worldy activities as a divine calling
- Calvin (1509-1564)
o Predestination
- Puritanism
o Looking for evidence of salvation in one’s life
The spirit of capitalism
- Mindset where people seek profit rationally and systematically
- Moral obligation to make more and more money
- Moral obligation not to waste time or money
- Avoiding the spontaneous enjoyment of life
- Weber’s ideal types: Jakob Fugger vs. Benjamin Franklin
Key insights from Weber
- Powerpoint
