The Weberian Thesis in India cas / La Thèse wébérienne en Inde. - article ; n°1 ; vol.42, pg 17-33
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The Weberian Thesis in India cas / La Thèse wébérienne en Inde. - article ; n°1 ; vol.42, pg 17-33

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Archives des sciences sociales des religions - Année 1976 - Volume 42 - Numéro 1 - Pages 17-33
L'analyse wébérienne de l'influence de l'hindouisme sur l'organisation économique de l'Inde n'a pas suscité une floraison de recherches comparable à celle provoquée par L'Ethique protestante et l'esprit du capitalisme. Cet article relance le débat sur les idées développées par Weber dans La Religion de l'Inde. Il soulève un certain nombre de questions à propos de son schéma théorique et propose des raisons qui devraient engager la recherche empirique à y répondre. L'auteur s'intéresse particulièrement à la nature complexe de l'hindouisme et à ce qu'on peut entendre par idéal-type de rationalité économique.
17 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

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Publié le 01 janvier 1976
Nombre de lectures 67
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Norman L. Buchignani
The Weberian Thesis in India cas / La Thèse wébérienne en
Inde.
In: Archives des sciences sociales des religions. N. 42, 1976. pp. 17-33.
Résumé
L'analyse wébérienne de l'influence de l'hindouisme sur l'organisation économique de l'Inde n'a pas suscité une floraison de
recherches comparable à celle provoquée par L'Ethique protestante et l'esprit du capitalisme.
Cet article relance le débat sur les idées développées par Weber dans La Religion de l'Inde. Il soulève un certain nombre de
questions à propos de son schéma théorique et propose des raisons qui devraient engager la recherche empirique à y répondre.
L'auteur s'intéresse particulièrement à la nature complexe de l'hindouisme et à ce qu'on peut entendre par idéal-type de
rationalité économique.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Buchignani Norman L. The Weberian Thesis in India cas / La Thèse wébérienne en Inde. In: Archives des sciences sociales des
religions. N. 42, 1976. pp. 17-33.
doi : 10.3406/assr.1976.2097
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/assr_0335-5985_1976_num_42_1_2097Arch Sc soc des Rel. 42 1976 17-33
Norman BUCHIGNANI
THE WEBERIAN THESIS IN INDIA
analyse wébérienne de influence de hindouisme sur
organisation économique de Inde pas suscité une floraison
de recherches comparable celle provoquée par Ethique
protestante et esprit du capitalisme
Cet article relance le débat sur les idées développées par
Weber dans La Religion de linde Il soulève un certain nombre
de questions propos de son schéma théorique et propose des
raisons qui devraient engager la recherche empirique
répondre auteur intéresse particulièrement la nature
complexe de hindouisme et ce on peut entendre par idéal-
type de rationalité économique
It has now been half century since Max Hinduismus und
Buddhismus first saw print and some seventeen years passed from the time
of the translation of The Religion of India into English While this
complex work is easily one of the most thought provoking and wide
ranging in the sociological literature the history of discourse derived from
it has been disturbingly small and narrowly conceived In sharp contrast
to the sophistication of the inquiry subsequent to The Protestant Ethic
and The Spirit of Capitalism which has fruitfully incorporated
insights into comprehensive theory of the relations between Western
religion and economic orientations the relatively sparse second-generation
corpus following on the lead of The Religion of India has been charac
terized by naively-conceived stultified debate as to whether or not
Hinduism has had detrimental effect on the rationalization of economic
endeavor Virtually no effort has been spent on the extension negation
or illumination of theoretical framework itself
The negative effects of this neglect are not restricted to the lack of
theoretical advance For at least century prior to Weber stereotypes of
Hinduismus und Buddhismus in Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Religionssoziologie
vols 1922 rpt Tubingen J.C.B Mohr Paul Siebeck] 1963) II which has been trans
lated as The Religion of India The Sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism
Hans Gerth and Don Martindale Glencoe Free Press of Glencoe 1962 The
Religion of India will be abbreviated here as R.I
Max WEBER The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism trans Talcott
Parsons New York Charles Sons 1958) and abbreviated here as
17 ARCHIVES DE SCIENCES SOCIALES DES RELIGIONS
the East have included within them notion of the otherworldly nature
of Asian religious practice which was often used in defence of coloniali-
zation and racial discrimination Today dogmatic reductions of
exploratory work have often been employed in superficial explanations
of how Oriental religions have allegedly slowed the development of Asia
Thus resolution of the questions posed by Weber have importance beyond
the sociology of religion
Paradoxically it may well be that it is because of the practical weight
accorded to modernization that the attendant theoretical sphere has shown
so little evolution In the heat of debate proponents of the thesis of Asian
traditionalism quote Weber like orthodox scripture rarely venturing into
the empirical realm while those who reject this argument often address
unsupported theoretical propositions with atheoretical empirical ones
The objective of this paper is not to cast vote for either side of such
question frame which is by its very structure almost without meaning
Such an attempt would only serve to give greater validity to its narrow
formulation and push the enormous Weberian achievement even
further out of the realm of current discourse carried on his name
Rather it is the prime goal of this endeavour to reengage discussion with
The Religion of India and the associated works in way which might
aid in initiating something of the vigour which can only be achieved
through the synthesis of an open-ended theoretical frame and strong
empirical and historical inquiry Toward such an end the discussion will
take contribution as beginning point with the status of an
unproved theory and will make an attempt both at clarification of those
parts of the original thesis which are crucial to any connected Inquiry as
well as reformulation of some alternative strategies which Weber has
questionably framed 4)
It would naturally be appropriate to begin at the most general level
by asking what are the major assertions which might possibly be derived
out of the nexus of religion and economic action As stated many times by
Weber and as affirmed by the proportion of his life work devoted to it the
search for connections between these two spheres was one of his primary
concerns Even the structure of his generalized sociology of religion bears
heavy inprint of an interest in the relation between religiosity and
economic rationalization on its theoretical structure And yet meta-
This narrow polarity is best illustrated in single context by Charles and
Zona LooMXS ed. Socio-Economie Change and the Religious Factor in India
Symposium on the Views of Max Weber New Delhi Affiliated East-West Press Pvt
Ltd. 1969 Charles Loomis editorial defense of the Asian Thesis never goes beyond
references to Weber in spite of the massive empirical output of Indian studies over the
past fifty years
The marked religiosity of the form of discourse surrounding the Asian Thesis
was first pointed out to me by Professor P.A.S SARAM who was led to come to terms
with this problem in his Inquiry into Buddhism in Sri Lanka Weber and Buddhism
in Sri Lanka Ceylon) in CALDAROLA ed Religion in Oriental Societies The Hague
Mouton in press must also make known my appreciation of his ongoing contribution
to many of the themes expressed in this paper
For straightforward assertion of this goal see JR.J. PARSONS
Max Weber 1864-1964 ASR 30 April 1965) 171-5 also tresses the import of this
connection in work Weber unambiguously gives strong causal weighting
to Asian religiosity in this regard in The Social Psychology of World Religions
GERTH and WRIGHT MILLS ed. From Max Weber Essays in Sociology New York
Oxford Univ Press 1971) 293 and abbreviated here as Social Psych.
18 THE WEBERIAN THESIS
theoretical discussion would seem to have been of little interest to Weber
even though as it will be quickly seen such questions have large
implications for empirical work As Andreski has noted there is nothing
very ideal about own typologies When he talks about bureaucracy
or feudalism or capitalism he moved on the level of abstraction which is
not very far removed from observable reality This tendency has had
the unfortunate consequence of leaving rather ambiguous the theoretical
question frame which is to link the analysis of the Protestant Ethic with
those of Asian religions
Without wishing to get embroiled in arguments of degree it would
seem that it has been generally resolved that in The Protestant Ethic and
The Spirit of Capitalism as well as in supportive commentary elsewhere
Weber was attempting to relate Protestant theodicy causally to the rise
of rational wide-ranging bourgeois capitalism While the prominence to
be given to this causal weighting is problematic in Weber it is clear that
he most definitely held to position of the plural causation of modern
capitalism 7)
Most commentators have followed Weber in considering the applic
ation of this explanatory framework to the East to be relatively non-
problematical but things are not actuality so simple In The Religion of
India Weber essentially inverted the thesis of the Protestant Ethic His
reasoning is clear enough Multiple causation aside if the theodical patter
ning of Protestantism A was causally related to rational work
orientation B) then it would seem reasonable that non-A la the
Hindu Ethic would be causally related to non-B i.e to traditional
economic orientation Weber had already used this type of comparative
explanation with respect

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