The Jews and Modern Capitalism / Edition 1

by Werner Sombart

Overview

Since its first appearance in Germany in 1911, Jews and Modern Capitalism has provoked vehement criticism. As Samuel Z. Klausner emphasizes, the lasting value of Sombart's work rests not in his results-most of which have long since been disproved-but in his point of departure. Openly acknowledging his debt to Max Weber, Sombart set out to prove the double thesis of the Jewish foundation of capitalism and the capitalist foundation of Judaism. Klausner, placing Sombart's work in its historical and societal context, examines the weaknesses and strengths of Jews and Modern Capitalism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780878558377
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	01/30/1982
Series:	Social Science Classics Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Samuel Z. Klausner is director of the Center for Research on the Acts of Man and professor of sociology, University of Pensylvania.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Transaction Edition; I: The Contribution of the Jews to Modern Economic Life; I: Introductory; II: The Shifting of the Centre of Economic Life Since the Sixteenth Century; III: The Oulckening of International Trade; IV: The Foundation of Modern Colonies; V: The Foundation of the Modern State; VI: The Predominance of Commerce in Economic Life; VII: The Growth of a Capitalistic Point of View in Economic Life; II: The Aptitude of the Jews for Modern Capitalism; VIII: The Problem; IX: What is a Capitalist Undertaker?; X: The Objective Circumstances in the Jewish Aptitude for Modern Capitalism; XI: The Significance of the Jewish Religion in Economic Life; XII: Jewish Characteristics; III: The Origin of the Jewish Genius; XIII: The Race Problem; XIV: The Vicissitudes of the Jewish People

Editorial Reviews

"[T]races the connection which [Sombart] asserts to exist between Jews and modern capitalism from the transferring of the hegemony of the world's commerce from the Italians and Spaniards in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to northern Europe . . . [where] they brought about the modern economic system of credit and competitive prices. . . . [Sombart's] exaggerations only serve to make his pages the more provocative of thought . . . a very real contribution to the hitherto neglected economic history of the Jewish people." —New York Times

From the Publisher