Presbyteries and Profits: Calvinism and the Development of Capitalism in Scotland, 1560-1707(Edinburgh Education & Society Series)

Scotland is one of the few cases that meet the stringent requirements of a test of Weber's argument about the relationship between Calvinism and the economic ethos of modern capitalism. This treatise investigates Weber's theory, setting out his thesis and arguing that previous work on Weber has distorted his original ideas. After a close examination of Scottish pastoral theological material and Scots business records for the period from the Reformation to the Act of Union (1707), it concludes that for Scotland, Weber's argument is vindicated.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Max Weber on the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism: introduction; the grounds for the study, the controversial Max Weber, an outline of the study, Weber and Scotland; Weber's protestant ethic theses, previous commentaries on Scotland and the Weber thesis, conclusion. Part 2 The Scots Calvinist ethic: sixteenth-century Scottish Calvinism; introduction, a brief outline of Calvinism in Scotland, formal doctrine, commentaries and expositions, primitive Calvinism in sixteenth-century Scotland, seventeenth-century Scottish Calvinism; introduction, commentaries and expositions, formal doctrine, neo-Calvinism in seventeenth-century Scotland, the doctrine of covenants and its implications. Part 3 The spirit of Scottish capitalism: traditionalism in economic activity; Weber, Scotland, conclusion, the manufactory movement; introduction, industrial policy, manufacturing enterprises in Scotland; the Newmills Cloth Manufactory, Haddingtonshire; early history, 1645 to 1681, the new company established, June 1681 to May 1684, capitalists at work, June 1684 to May 1703, labouring people, June 1684 to May 1703, the final years, June 1703 to March 1713, conclusion, colonies, credit, and coal; colonial endeavours and the Darien company, banking, coal-mining. Part 4 The development of capitalism in Scotland, 1560-1707: Weber vindicated - the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism; introduction, accounts of everyday practices, Weber, Marx, and vocabularies of motive, conclusion, the capitalist spirit and the genesis of modern Scottish capitalism, introduction, Weber's comparative analyses, ends, means, and conditions of action. Appendix: manufacturing enterprises in Scotland, 1560-1707.