SOC 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Conservative Force, Calvinism, Class Conflict

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 1101
• Professor: Willow Scobie

Document Summary

Weber rejected marx"s materialist conception of history. Weber saw class conflict as less significant. Weber argued that ideas and values were as important as economic factors in creating social change. Weber focused on status categories, rather than property relations: ex. Party -> degree of political influence: ex. Plumbers and physicians make the same amount of money, but physicians are considered to be more prestigious. Studied religions in china, india and near east. Weber contributed to the sociology of religion: religion is not necessarily a conservative force, religiously inspired movements have often produced dramatic social transformations. Protestantism, particularly for puritanism, was the source of a. Capitalist outlook: early entrepreneurs were mostly calvinists, in their desire to serve god, they were driven to succeed. Material success was considered a sign of divine favor: they couldn"t flaunt their wealth so they re-invested it. Another of weber"s significant contributions to soc was his study of bureaucracy.