SOCL 2505 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Protestant Work Ethic, Class Conflict, Harriet Martineau
Document Summary
Karl marx (1818-1838): in seeking to explain social change, marx looked primarily to the economy. Marx developed what is called a materialist conception of history, which is based on economy, and not values, culture, etc. He predicted that ultimately the class conflict built into the capitalist system would lead to its demise and that new, classless society would emerge. Marx"s ideas have a great deal of influence, both within sociology and in history and society. Max weber (1864-1920): though he too was interested in explaining social change, weber saw power not only in the economy but also in ideas and values. In particular, weber argued that calvinist christianity, in the form of the protestant work ethic, played an important role in the success and popularity of capitalism. Weber was also interested in the increasing rationality of the social world and studied the structure of bureaucracies.
