Enchantment/Disenchantment

Among the better-known concepts of Weberian theory are those of enchantment and disenchantment. German theorist Max Weber posits that the “enchanted” world of the past, in which spirits roamed and magical beliefs were a part of individuals' routine experience, grew progressively more “disenchanted” with the development of modern capitalism and the concomitant rise of formal rationality exemplified by, among others, the bureaucracy.

The Weberian perspective posits that premodern societies were more “enchanted” than modern societies. Traditional societies or communities, which tended to be small and homogenous, embraced magic and mystery. They were guided by substantive rather than formal rationality: Individuals and societies defined and pursued goals based on abstract teachings, such as the ideals and ideas of religion.

Weber's work links the development of capitalism to an enchanted world: The early Calvinists, who gave birth to the “Protestant ethic,” from which capitalism in its modern form grew, saw economic success as leading to salvation. In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber highlights the way in which the Protestant ethic transformed work into a religious “calling.” Calvinists believed that worldly success was a sign that God looked favorably upon them, and they stressed the accumulation of wealth, though they were, at the same time, hostile to the enjoyment of wealth. Their work was characterized by methodical enterprise and commitment to profit for the sake of investment and growth, rather than conspicuous consumption.

Weber's work shows that the religion and spirituality that motivated capitalist enterprise contributed to the development of a rationalized world that, paradoxically, had little need for religion or magical beliefs. The ethics and values present at the birth of modern capitalism fell away, as capitalism did not need the support of religious beliefs anymore. Rather, the institutions of capitalism needed the support of rational structures, including bureaucracy and rational-legal political authority.

Capitalism, according to Weber, is supported by the development and spread of bureaucracy, which is based on rules and regulations and the paramount goals of efficiency and predictability. Furthermore, modern capitalism is supported and fostered by rational-legal authority in the political realm. The rise of rational-legal authority and its triumph over traditional and charismatic authority are also signs of the triumph of formal rationality. Notably, both charismatic and traditional authority have elements of enchantment that permeate the relationships between leaders and followers: In the former, there is a belief in the singular power of the leader, and in the other, a veneration of tradition and the leader who embodies that tradition. By contrast, rational-legal authority is based, like bureaucracy, on rules, regulations, and authority that are attached to positions, rather than particular individuals.

From the Weberian perspective, modern societies have replaced substantive meaning with formal rationality, which is efficient and well suited for capitalist enterprise but devoid of meaning and oriented toward profit for its own sake. Randall Collins (1986) writes of Weber's dystopian vision of modernity that “It is a world without magic, a world in which the hard forces of the market and the pressures of bureaucracy give a secular equivalent to individual powerlessness under God's predestination” (p. 59). Weber (1991) himself suggests near the end of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism that “In the field of its highest development, in the United States, the pursuit of wealth, stripped of its religious and ethical meaning, tends to become associated with purely mundane passions, which often actually give it the character of sport” (p. 182).

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