The Promise of Absolute Wealth: Capitalism as a Religion?  

Oleh:

Deutschmann, Christoph

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Thesis Eleven vol. 66 no. 1 (Agu. 2001), page 32–56.
Topik: capital; entrepreneurship; innovation; money; religion
Fulltext: 32TE661.pdf (102.37KB)

Isi artikel

In his fragment on 'capitalism as a religion', Walter Benjamin characterizes capitalism not only as a phenomenon that is 'influenced' by religion, as conventional sociological interpretations assume, but as one of 'essentially religious' character. This article takes up and elaborates Benjamin's idea, drawing mainly on Simmel, Marx and the constructivist concept of economic 'myths'. Referring to Simmel's idea of money as 'absolute means' and Marx's concept of capital, it is argued that money is a non-observable and basically paradox phenomenon, comparable to religion. But capitalism differs from traditional religion in that it is no longer based on a fixed distinction between the mundane and the transcendent world. Rather, the promises of capital have to be redeemed in a continuous process of constructing and deconstructing economic 'myths'. The article argues that such an interpretation of capitalism 'as' a religion could be capable of synthesizing the results of contemporary research on innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth.

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