Introduction : the price of piety

The relationship between religion and economics, or more narrowly between religion and entrepreneurship, has been, perhaps counter intuitively, a more or less persistent theme of the history of the sociology of religion. In thinking about economics and entrepreneurship we probably somewhat automatically think about economic innovation and risk-taking behaviour along the lines classically suggested by economic sociologists like Joseph Schumpeter. In addition we probably equally automatically think of connecting economic entrepreneurship and religion through Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (2002). In 1911 in The Theory of Economic Development, Schumpeter (1961) defined entrepreneurship as the creative combination of factors of production into new commodities or markets, and he consequently regarded the growth of state bureaucracy and regulation of the economy as anathema to this creative drive towards new combinations By contrast, Weber saw advanced capitalism as less dependent on entrepreneurial creativity and more dependent on legal security, administrative efficiency and predictable banking conditions for long-term credit. When we consider Weber's account of capitalism and Puritanism, we think of rational Puritan asceticism as a driving force behind capitalist accumulation. Against Schumpeter, Weber's emphasis in the Protestant Ethic was more about the rational organisation of everyday life according to a Protestant calling and less about the idea of risk-taking activities and innovative behaviour.