The essential premise of the Protestant Ethic is heavily influenced by Calvinism and the idea that salvation was predestined. The markers of this gift of salvation were the favour of God and the outward working of inner righteousness (Weber, 2005). This theological perspective meant that as the middle class began to form and professions began to become an acceptable avenue of generating financial wealth the telltale markers of ‘God’s favour and blessing’ were in your financial success. Modern correlations to a ‘protestant ethic’ can still be seen due to the gentle disentanglement of ‘religious ethic’ from a more secular ‘work ethic’. For example, initially this religious ethic was utilised through ideas like the American Dream with Benjamin Franklin’s almanacks diffusing the more religious approach to productivity, time and profit into something infinitely more applicable to everyone, generating a new and widely accepted form of ‘common sense’ (Weber, 2005). Bourdieu extends the concept of Weber’s ‘religious habitus’ in their book, ‘Outline of a Theory of Practice’ saying, “The structures constitutive of a particular type of environment produce habitus, systems of durable, transposable dispositions, structured structures predisposed to function as structuring structures.” (Bourdieu, 1977, p.72). By extending this definition from religious to structural we see the natural metamorphism of the ‘protestant ethic’ to the more secular ‘work ethic’. In their article on The Protestant Ethic Daniel Bell notes this transition as a critique of Webers’ work saying, “The limitation of Weber and Sombart is that they dealt primarily with the origins of capitalism, but not with its structural transformations.” (Bell, 1996, p.37).
As what we consider to be ‘work’ changes, the transition of undisputed social facts to recognised social constructs can be seen in the social response highlighting the, “passage of doxa to orthodoxy.” (Bourdieu, 1977, p.169). For example consider the backlash against celebrity culture (The Guardian, 2020), ‘freelancers/creatives’ (Medium, 2019), influencers on instagram (UNILAD, 2019) and other social media platforms. The concept of a ‘real job’ and what that means has been heavily influenced by the ‘Protestant Ethic’ as before the industrial revolution and the increase of independent republics the primary form of wealth generation was heavily class divided between land owners and land workers as was common in all western feudal societal structures. The previous religious ethics of hard work, sobriety and morality still have a heavy influence today on what we as a society deem a worthy contribution. When examining the ‘Protestant Ethic’ Matthew Taylor notes that it, “is not an explicit doctrine or moral code but rather a habit of thought and behavior in relation to economic activity.” (Taylor, 2019, Online).
With this in mind even the pattern of profit and our thoughts towards it have begun to shift again. Weber’s idea of the spirit of capitalism being for profit and productivity for its own sake and not for personal gratification morphed into our more modern concept of having money to purchase more than we need, creating the ever turning cycle of consumerism within a neoliberal framework. This is once again changing as our concept of work begins to shift and we see the pattern of ‘profit’ itself shift. For example the discussion around UBI (Universal Basic Income) and creative work through crowd funding, (Financial Times, 2020; The Guardian, 2020; Musically, 2019; The Independent, 2015; The Verge, 2012), we see a third shift in the ‘ethic’ of ‘work’ and what it is itself. Once again Weber’s work proves applicable as we seek to understand meaning and worth within work and its relationship to the human race. The spirit of capitalism which evolved to consumerism is reaching its inevitable conclusion, the replacement of the majority of workers with their own creations, “The insane energy generated from the “Protestant ethic”—productivity and profit as ends in themselves, pursued with religious zeal—generate an efficiency and surplus that make such developments rather inevitable.” (Taylor, 2019, Online). Taylor (2019, Online), goes on to cite the need to abandon our social understand of ‘work ethic’ from a perspective of ‘civic virtue’ and instead examine it anthropologically. In conclusion Webers’ thesis is even more applicable in such circumstances as society re-engages with the discussion of what ‘work’ is, how it contributes to our lives, and how essential it is to the sociological perspectives that define the human condition.
References:
Bell, D. (1996) The Protestant Ethic. World Policy Journal [online]. 13(3) pp. 35-39. [Accessed 15 April 2020].
https://www.jstor.org/stable/40209487
Bourdieu, P. (1977) Outline Of A Theory Of Practice [online]. English Language Edition: Routledge. [Accessed 15 April 2020].
Dredge, S. (2019) Amanda Palmer says artists still fear crowdfunding. music:)ally [online] 5 September. Available from: https://musically.com/2019/09/05/amanda-palmer-says-artists-still-fear-crowdfunding-criticism/
[Accessed 15 April 2020]
Jones, O. (2020) Universal basic income is the best way to help the self employed. The Guardian [online] 26 March. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/26/universal-basic-income-help-self-employed
[Accessed 15 April 2020]
Robertson, A. (2012) Amanda Palmer Kickstarter finishes with record- breaking $1 million. THE VERGE [online] 2 June. Available from: https://www.theverge.com/2012/6/2/3059284/amanda-palmer-million-dollar-kickstarter-finishes
[Accessed 15 April 2020]
Rosemurgy, E. (2019) Instagram Influencers Told To Get ‘Real Jobs’ After Like Count Removed. UNILAD [online] 23 July. Available from: https://www.unilad.co.uk/life/instagram-influencers-told-to-get-real-jobs-after-like-count-removed/ [Accessed 15 April 2020]
Saul, H. (2015) Former Dresden Dolls singer Amanda Palmer denies crowdfunding campaign will be used to pay for her baby. The Independent [online] 28 August. Available from: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/former-dresden-dolls-singer-amanda-palmer-denies-crowdfunding-campaign-will-be-used-to-pay-for-her-10476323.html
[Accessed 15 April 2020]
Sussking, D. (2020) Universal Basic Income is an affordable and feasible response to coronavirus. Financial Times [online] 18 March. Available from: https://www.ft.com/content/927d28e0-6847-11ea-a6ac-9122541af204
[Accessed 15 April 2020]
Taylor, M. (2019) Gods of the Marketplace: The “Work Ethic” From Max Weber to Universal Basic Income. Anthropoetics: The Journal of Generative Anthropology [online]. XXIV(2). [Accessed 15 April 2020].
http://anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap2402/2402taylor/
Thawani, R. (2019) To The People Who’ve Been Told To “Get A Real Job”. The Medium [online] 2 May. Available from: https://medium.com/swlh/to-the-people-whove-been-told-to-get-a-real-job-75fcc526ab13
[Accessed 15 April 2020]
Tollschein, E. (2020) Celebrities, Coronavirus has exposed how irrelevant you have become. The Guardian [online] 7 April. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/07/coronavirus-celebrity-influence-criticism#maincontent
[Accessed 15 April 2020]
Weber, M. (2005) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism [online]. Online Edition: Routledge. [Accessed 15 April 2020].
https://www.vlereader.com/Reader?ean=9780203995808
First Year Undergrad
Thought and or reflections 