Max Weber and Modernity

Notes taken from Crash Course and in-class notes.

Max weber believed the biggest change between the modern and traditional world was..

The way we think.

Rationalization

Social stratification

Bureaucracy

Traditionalism

see the world as having a basic order, with things being the way they ought to be.

Example of Traditionalism’ worldview

“Divine right” monarchy —> Traditionalism doesn’t question “natural order”. It was all God-ordained.

Max Weber argued that with modernity society began to question the natural order.

With that, society was becoming ________. This process is called ______________.

Rational, rationalization

To Max Weber, how did we go from individualism to efficiency above all?

Religion —> the Protestant Reformation

What book of Max Weber posits this view?

“The Protestant Ethic &The Spirit of Capitalism”

To Weber, what was the basis for traditionalism’s world view.

Catholicism was traditionalism’s basis for world view. (Politics, Economy, Culture, it was all God-ordained.

Personal Responsibility

In Lutheranism, you had divine placements but they asked how WELL you performed your role.

Predestination (as argued by John Calvin)

Your fate has been set by God from the beginning of the universe

Proof of Election

your wealth proved how well/how much you worked —> proved you were saved by God

What was the sociological consequence of the Protest Reformation?

The Protestant Reformation.

How did the Protestant Reformation change society?

It transformed a communal, traditional society to an individualsitic, capitalist society focused on economic success.

Bureaucracy

A highly structured and organized system of administration designed to enhance efficiency and consistency