A neglected gap in the Weber thesis? The long economic lag of capitalism from Protestantism

Abstract

This article identifies and explains a certain previously undetected or downplayed analytical problem in Max Weber’s thesis arising from a causal link between Protestantism, above all Calvinism, and the emergence and expansion of modern capitalism as an economic ‘spirit’ and system. There is a manifest time gap or historical distance between original Calvinism and modern capitalism spanning several centuries. More specifically, there is an ‘economic lag’ of modern capitalism, defined by the Weber thesis as emerging and expanding mostly during the late 18th and 19th centuries, orthodox Calvinism and generally the Protestant Reformation arising and spreading in the 16th century. This article investigates whether such a capitalist lag behind its assumed religious source is exceedingly protracted to posit an effective causal relationship, a plausible congruence and an affinity between Calvinism and modern capitalism as the Weber thesis does. This article identifies two different religious-economic configurations: first, the rise and diffusion of Calvinism and the absence of capitalism, second, the emergence and expansion of modern capitalism and the decline of Calvinism. I infer that the salient economic lag of modern capitalism from Calvinism casts serious doubt on their direct causal link and thus on the Weber thesis, giving the fact that the assumption of lagged effects of the second on the first variable does not provide an adequate solution. This article aims to contribute toward a further clarification and examination of the Weber thesis and generally of the relationship between religious values and modern economy and society.