Stephen Kalberg Boeken

The Protestant ethic — a moral code stressing hard work, rigorous self-discipline, and the organization of one's life in the service of God — was made famous by sociologist and political economist Max Weber. In this brilliant study (his best-known and most controversial), he opposes the Marxist concept of dialectical materialism and its view that change takes place through "the struggle of opposites." Instead, he relates the rise of a capitalist economy to the Puritan determination to work out anxiety over salvation or damnation by performing good deeds — an effort that ultimately discouraged belief in predestination and encouraged capitalism. Weber's classic study has long been required reading in college and advanced high school social studies classrooms.

Focusing on civilizational analysis, this guidebook aids social scientists in exploring the origins, characteristics, and developments of civilizations. It utilizes the theories of Max Weber to provide a structured framework for understanding the complexities of societal evolution and the factors that shape different civilizations.

This volume outlines Weber’s comparative-historical sociology of ‘interpretive understanding’. Drawing on central text to show how Weber himself applied his own procedures, it demonstrates the analytic strengths of his research strategies through discussions of his major works and concerns.