THE PROTESTANT ETHIC AND MODERNITY - COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS WITH AND BEYOND WEBER

In this lecture given at the Congress of the German Sociological Society in November 2004 in Munchen in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the publication of the Max Weber's book 'Protestant Ethic' the author put the question, what is the significance, if any, Weber's comparative civilizational analysis for the analysis of modernity, especially of the contemporary world of multiple modernities and intensive globalization. Answering this question he uses Weberian conception of axial civilization. In conclusion he says that his own analysis, while going beyond Weber, builds very much on his vision and insight, although the concrete contours of the contemporary situation naturally differs greatly from those of the societies Weber studied.