THE PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC , THE SPIRIT OF ENTERPRISE AND THE SIEGERLAND MENTALITY >

We know that our intellectual heritage influences our approach to modern economic and social issues. N evertheless, the history of econom ic thought and of political economy which forms the basis for research into the grassroots of socio-cultural developm ent are currently outside the confines of m ainstream econom ic analysis. Consequently, many of the results of research carried out nowadays are, unfortunate y, more likely to resemble a pamphlet on mathematical econophysics than an economic treatise. However, cultural evolution only enables us to conceive that "all the major schools of thought in economics have concomitant types of social organization. ... Sub­ stantively, what expresses growth and developm ent in the dynamics o f economic evolution is culture" (Brinkman, 1981 :xii).

We know that our intellectual heritage influences our approach to m odern economic and social issues.N evertheless, the history of econom ic thought and of political econom y which form s the basis for research into the grassroots of socio-cultural developm ent are currently outside the confines of m ainstream econom ic analysis.Consequently, many of the results of research carried out nowadays are, unfortunate y, m ore likely to resemble a pam phlet on m athem atical econophysics than an economic treatise.However, cultural evolution only enables us to conceive that "all the major schools of thought in economics have concomitant types of social organization.... Sub stantively, w hat expresses growth and d evelopm ent in the dynam ics o f econom ic evolution is culture" (Brinkman, 1981 :xii).
E xam ples of the aspects which are being badly neglected, are cultural economics in gen eral and th e origins of W estern econom ic civilization and industrial culture in particular.The P rotestant work ethic in this context belongs to the central features, which are prim arily a subject o f the P ro testan t ethic.T he latter is relevant when related to the economic order in the form of a free market economy.But one question remains: W hat does capitalism in this context m ean nowadays?M oreover, can social m ark et econom y be put in its p ro p er place?W ithout any doubt th ere is a logical con n ection betw een the P ro testan t w ork ethic, the spirit of en terp rise, th e social m arket economy and federalism.The the Protestant work ethic and the social market economy are closely linked, just as the social market economy and the federalism are complementary to each other.This is the reason why I not only take the central aspect of the work ethic into consideration, but the m arket principle and the federal principle as well.O ne should not forget that both the social m arket economy and federalism have been quite successful in W est Germ any and they could be a concept forming part of the strategic orientation within the efforts at reform in your country.
T he relatio nsh ip b etw een th e P ro testa n t eth ic and socio-econom ic life forms the platfo rm from which the S iegerland m entality can be exam ined as it is a special example of the spirit of capitalism which is m oreover not only unique, but also still alive in th e region of G erm an y w hich is called th e S iegerland.T he S iegerland m entality is really a unique feature o f the ways of life, typical for the region, called Siegerland, nam ed a fter th e biggest town in this region, Siegen, which has about 120 000 inhabitants.It is not only the considerable size of this region that is charac teristic, but also the fact that this mentality, determ ined by the Protestant ethic, is still alive in this central part of W est Germany.It is a well-preserved economic industrial region, comprising mainly the iron and steel industries.

T H E PROTnESTANT ETH IC AND T H E SPIRIT O F CA PITA U SM
T he purpose o f my lecture is to d em o n strate th at the origin of the basic econom ic attitudes, or perhaps it is b etter to say the economic spirit, the ethos of the economic system, is conditioned on doctrines of faith.The economic spirit in general is based on two constitutive elements; firstly on the idea of the invisible hand, which refers to the free market mechanism and secondly, on Protestant religious thinking.
T he p articular prevailing P ro testan t ethic, for example th e L utheran or Calvinistic religious school, characterizes concrete sentim ents tow ards work and business in a society.Beginning in th e M iddle Ages, m ore and m ore p eo p le in c en tral E urope reasoned that the developm ent of man and the evolution of mankind revolved around work, m aking an effort and doing things which are useful or necessary, ra th e r than relaxing or doing things purely for enjoyment -in other words -hard work is beneficial for you.Why is South Africa a powerful economic community despite the pressure from abroad and even though it has a dual economy?"How can advanced countries produce so much m ore outp ut with so much less sw eat than do poor countries" (Sam uelson & N ordhaus, 1985:823).This definition of the problem , pointed out by Paul Anthony Samuelson, is exactly the crucial question.
In the very early stage of economic thinking, theorists based their concepts on aspects of the natural environment, such as climate, noting that most of the advanced countries are located in tem perate zones of climate.In m ore advanced concepts, customs were regarded as the sensible basis for research and last but not least it becam e evident that cu ltu re, especially religion, is a key evolutionary facto r which has p rom oted new developments and changes in society.This means that culture is the decisive factor for improving conditions in social life or for creating a more sophisticated way of life.
A most im portant key for understanding the 'secret' o f cultural developm ent is the Protestant ethic.This means that social and economic progress is partly a function of th e vitality o f peo ple, inspired by the P ro testa n t ethic, by which the lifestyle in a country is stim ulated.The P rotestant ethic gets a hold on the people of a region by influencing their m ental (personal) attitudes, to work, and while quite a num ber of attitudes normally are subject to change, there are some areas which are particularly subject to change and there are also others with very little change in attitudes at all.
The Protestant work ethic is a motive force which prom otes the progress of W estern civilization.This means that the way to success is by way of a traditional virtue and by accepting certain principles of religion.The Protestant work ethic especially is such a motive force in driving people to seek personal gain.W hat does this really mean?
Strictly speaking, the Protestant work ethic is a moral belief that inevitably influences the behaviour patterns, the attitudes and the philosophy of life of people.In the words of Max W eb er (1985:26) this is a q uestio n of a specific "rationalism o f W estern culture".
It is hence our first concern now to work out and to explain the special peculiarity of O ccidental rationalism , and within this context th at of the developm ent of rational economic conduct.
Every such atte m p t at explanation m ust, recognizing th e fu n d am en tal im portance of the econom ic factor, above all take account o f the econom ic conditions.But at the sam e time the opposite correlation m ust not be left out of consideration.F or though the developm ent of econom ic rationalism is partly dependent on rational technique and law, it is at the same time determ ined by the ability and disposition of m en to adopt certain types of practical and rational conduct (W e te r, 1985:26).
W hen these types have b een obstructed by spiritual obstacles, the developm ent of rational economic conduct has also met serious inner resistance (W eber, 1986:26,27).
And it is, among others, the ethical ideas of duty, based on religious forces, which "have in the past always been among the m ost im portant formative influences on conduct" (W eber, 1985:27).

T H E W ORK ETH IC AS A CONSTANT V ALUE
The work ethic is a moral belief with a very strong influence going back centuries.The Protestant work ethic has aroused a fluidity of activeness and by that a propensity to efficiency th at the best w ords can never achieve, even u n d er changing conditions, because this m oral b e lie f sta rte d to develop on its own as soon as th e religious substratum lost its im portance for the people.This m eans th a t the P rotestant work ethic has becom e a constant and nearly tim eless value, although the religious com-ponents of the formula of economic and social success are visibly diminishing.This can be seen in Germany.The work ethic has become a durable value, even alive when the pursuit of its orientation is deprived of religious belief.
O ne can say that the more rural life is, the m ore religious belief will be tenable, and th a t u rb an life and m odern ind u strializatio n dim inish the incentive given by the P ro testan t w ork ethic.The colours of work ethic grow p ale so th a t even a strong m arket-oriented policy has a lot of difficulty revitalizing the m arket forces.
It will be rem em bered that the first industrial revolution started in Britain and Britain was the origin of capitalism.One look at this country will, however, clearly illustrate that the situation today has drastically changed since then.
The French legal and political philosopher, M ontesquieu, in his famous work Esprit de lois saw the secret of British power in the early days in the formula of success which he defined: 'T h e English", he said, "had progressed the farthest of all the people in the world in three im portant things: in religious values, in commerce, and in freedom." The work ethic is a system creating 'core-configuration' forming together with the civil liberties and freedom of trade the framework of a dem ocratic and social state, based on a free m arket economy.
T here is no need to say here that there is a very close connection between the political and the economic orders, which means that personal and political freedom can only be realized in a free m arket system.Furtherm ore the maximum creativity a human being is able to achieve can only be realized in a system which guarantees freedom and free competition.
The work ethic therefore is the alpha and the om ega for an understanding o f whom economic and social success can be ascribed to.This is because the world-wide victory of the free m arket system can be attributed to three main components of achievement: diligence, individual freedom and econom ic freedom .In o th er words, careful and conscientious hard work, the right to the free developm ent of everyone's personality and a competitive m arket system (competitive economy) together form one unity.

T H E PR O T E ST A N T E T H IC AS A BASIC E L E M E N T O F T H E S P IR IT O F CAPITA USM
Let us look at the religious elem ents of the spirit of capitalism , basic values which meanwhile act on their own, separated from the religious substratum .The following details will help to answer the question why capital assets and leading entrepreneurial positions in W estern societies were predom inantly to be found in Protestant families.
There are five aspects to be taken into consideration (Dahm, 1982: These aspects can be explained by beginning with the Lutheran conception o f the calling which is described in detail by Max W eber.It reads as follows: "The conception of money-making as an end in itself to which people are bound, as a calling, was contrary to the ethical feelings of whole epochs" which "is hardly necessary to prove" (W eber, 1985:73).A nd W eber continues: "Now it is unm istakable th at even in the G erm an w ord 'B e ru f, and p e rh ap s still m ore clearly in th e E nglish 'c allin g ', a religious co n ception , th a t o f a task se t by G o d , is a t le a st suggested" (W eb e r, 1985:79).
A ccording to Max W eber "(t)he conception of the calling in the religious sense for worldly conduct was susceptible to quite different interpretations".This m eans that "the effect of the R eform ation as such was only that, as com pared with the Catholic attitude, the moral emphasis on and the religious sanction of organized wordly labour in calling was mightily increased" (W eber, 1985:83).In this respect it would be of great value to reveal the sim ilarity to the apprenticeship which is also a unique, a typical G erm an way of educating young people and training them for an occupation.
Back to Max W eber: "The way in which the concept of the calling, which expressed this change, should develop further depended upon religious evolution which now took place in the different Protestant churches" (W eber, 1985:83).In the words of a layman: Luther considered a life of occupational fulfilment a divine service.As far as calling is concerned, this was just as if one had received a call from G od relating to the mission of making work one's business.
The second aspect within this context of the basic elem ents of the spirit of enterprise is that of the Calvinist doctrine o f predestination.H ere I can only very briefly sketch the question of how this doctrine originated and how it fitted into the framework of both the Calvinist theology and the Protestant work ethic.
"Calvinism was the faith over which the great political and cultural struggles of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were fought" (W eber, 1985:98) and this was in the most highly developed countries in Europe: in the Netherlands, in England, in France and in the G erm an dukedom s as well.A t th at time, and in general even today, the doctrine of p re d estin a tio n was considered its m ost characteristic dogm a (W eber, 1985:98).H ere Max W eber refers to the W estminster Confession of 1647 -one of the great synods of the 17th century -w here one reads in chapter III: "By the decree of G od for the m anifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and o thers fore-ordained to everlasting death" (W eber, 1985:100).
H isto rically the d o ctrin e of p re d e stin a tio n was th e sta rtin g p o in t o f the ascetic movement, usually known as pietism.
By reducing this complicated theological thoughts into rules for practical use. the idea was form ed to the syllogism practicus, that is to say th at the blessings of G od can be m easured by successful lifestyle, good health, by showing great personal energy and en th u siasm and p ro sp erity .T his ex p la n a tio n la te r led to eco n o m ic and social dynamism, because all Protestant Christians who were concerned about their salvation started to receive the blessings of G od by obeying a way of life to the best of their ability, especially m aking sure to follow the principles o f life in o rd er to gain an everlasting life or at least to reduce the unpleasant feeling th at they probably would belong to the group of people being fore-ordained to everlasting death.
Methodical control o f one' s lifestyle, the third aspect, means sharing divine grace by the fair m eans of hard work in an honest trade.Control of one's lifestyle gradually became a habit starting with economical house-keeping and later leading to accountancy, both of which were evolved from these attitudes of the systematic control of life.
This basic rationality is a constitutive pillar of m odern life only as far as the countries of Europe and North America are concerned and some other regions where Europeans have settled , also in South A frica of course.T h at m akes th e g re a t difference to countries based on other cultural patterns.And it was only due to the grounds of this basic rationality that the spirit of capitalism could develop.
The fourth aspect, worldly-minded asceticism, is the foundation stone o f a way of life that is simple and strict and in which the subjects them selves feel bound to follow a strenuous ascetic work discipline.This discipline implies living within this world and no t o u t o f it, like a m onk in a m o n astery .T his ap p ro a ch also m ean s th a t one voluntarily does w ithout the luxuries of life, like alcohol, dancing, entertainm ent, etc.; one lives purely for one's family and work.
Meanwhile the spirit of capitalism has changed its face, insofar as we can speak of a free m arket economy with a work ethic and with econom ic attitudes which are quite typical for capitalism .These econom ic attitudes are religious motivation, but with a new structure of industrial relation.Instead of worldly-minded ascetism we now find business sense based on the acquisitive principle, no longer conscious of any religious content.
As has already been m entioned, in certain regions of Europe characteristics of socio economic structures are formed by the com bination o f Calvinist-influenced piety and the spirit of capitalism.The spirit of capitalism means the ability to think of new and effective com binations of production factors in conjunction with an eagerness to use them .A p p lied to an everyday situ a tio n ; th e good p ro fits a C alv inist-capitalist entrepreneur makes by the work he and his workers do very diligently can sometimes not be spent because o f a strenuous way of living.The fact that profits are not spent, results in re-investment in the business and consequently the assets are increased.
The developm ent of the spirit of capitalism has various stages.
* The first stage: the fear of being expelled from the grace of G od for not showing diligence.
* The second stage; control (supervision) of one's way o f life motivated by the fear of G od. Sharing divine grace by the fair m eans of hard work in an honest trade was seen as being essential to one's way of life.
* The third stage; From this controlled lifestyle arose a private sector mentality -a w ork e th ic -to do h a rd w ork and to su b jec t o n e se lf to a stre n u o u s ascetic discipline.

Bodo B. Gemper
The fourth and last stage: A new type of spirit of capitalism which is more or less separated from religious roots, self-acting as a secularized spirit of capitalism.This spirit of capitalism can also be regarded as the laicized type of free market system.

T H E PRO TESTA N T ETH IC AND T H E SIEG ERLAN D M ENTALITY
Even if the religious elem ent has to a certain extent lost its attraction in the course of time, the ethical ideas of duty are still alive today.TTie geographical region which is very well known for its people still influenced by Calvinist attitudes of mind is the Siegerland.T hat is why experts speak of the Siegerland mentality when explaining the phenom enon of work ethic within the context of the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism.H ere we come closest to the fascinating source to gain specific insight into the develop m ent of an econom ic sp irit w hich m eans the ro o ts to the ethos o f an economic system.
In our case we are dealing with a connection of the spirit of m odern economic life with the ra tio n a l ethics of ascetic P ro testa n tism (W eb er, 1985:27).T h e S iegerland mentality has quite a num ber of elem ents of great pro-social strength which result in social-mindedness and by this means, in social peace.This m eans that the majority of w orkers did not see and still do not see a class enemy in their entrepreneur.W orker and e n trep ren eu r have no sense of social conflict or even confrontation.W hat they feel for each other is a more overlapping social mutuality, knowing that the common interests are much stronger than the social differences.T hat is the case because the belong to the same church and have the same faith which reduces the natural tension between the entrepreneur and his personnel.
T his typical m utuality had been influenced, or rath er properly speaking, had been contributed to by the certitude that economic success had something to do with the full blessing of the Lord and this can only be achieved by a way of life which presupposes p u ttin g o n e 's tru st in th e L ord: h ard w ork brings its own rew ard.This general tendency of social conduct in the Siegerland exercised an influence upon politics, especially before and after W orld W ar I.The socio-economic atm osphere therefore was determ ined by an expression, namely christlich-sozial.
This com bination of Christian and social aspects gives expression to the link between etern ity and th e progress of tim e on earth .In o th er w ords: Christian stands for eternity and social stands for contemporaneity.
W ithin the Siegerland mentality, the keynote of the Christian-social obviously had the function o f acting according to the divine law to see in charity the first principle for everyone's actions which also means that charity is a standard in social life.The more people applied this principle to their own lives, the less the ideas of social reform ers had any chance of attracting attention.
In a broader sense, the Christian-social is a keynote which, politically speaking, indeed worked as a stabilizing factor in West Germany.May I recall for you that after World W ar II the Christian Social U nion in Bavaria and the Christian D em ocratic U nion in the other parts of the Federal Republic of G ermany undoubtedly paved the way for 40 years of economic success on the basis of the social m arket economy.
W hat are the characteristic features of the Siegerland m entality in particular?The G erm an sociologist o f religion, Karl W ilhelm D ahm (D ahm , 1982:500), sees four prom inent features: 1. To make activity and dynamics a m atter of principle.
4. An anti-authoritarian sense of solidarity.
W hat do these characteristic features of the Siegerland mentality actually mean?
The first feature defining property does not need any clarification, because it expresses the typical activistic feature of economic behaviour in the Siegerland at a glance.An old saying expresses this m entality: 'B ring so m eth in g into being, be active, be economical and save money, build a house and die as a Christian'.
The second characteristic is also clear, because it reveals the prime necessity (the first principle of action): to observe the commandments of G od and to apply strong moral standards in life, i.e. both in p rivate en business life.G ath erin g vast w ealth is of secondary importance, because the essence of life is to withstand the suprem e tests of everyday life, and life is nothing but work.T hat is the dictate of reason: one's whole life is a challenge.
The third characteristic feature m eans th at the indigenous people of the Siegerland feel unique as far as their cultural traditions are concerned.This belief in the self has led to the unm istakable consciousness o f originality.The Siegerlander feels himself different in his habits from people in other regions of Germany.
The final but not least characteristic is to be seen in the an ti-authoritarian sense of solidarity which is to be found in a basic attitude following the principle of communal living w ith relig io u s affilia tio n in a P It is true that the image of the Siegerland mentality has in the m eantim e been blurred as a result of the rem arkable influx of people who at the end of and after W orld W ar II cam e as refugees, and persons who resettled from the eastern parts of G erm any or from Poland or Czechoslovakia.
The U niversity of Siegen also contributes to this m igration movem ent.D espite the change of attitudes, running parallel with the loosening of morals, the vital functions of the Siegerland mentality, however, have stayed alive.
This unique mentality, combined with a relative measure of seclusion, is the reason for the fact th a t q uite a num b er of e n tre p re n e u rs have, step by step, lost touch with technological progress.F or th at reason they have come into conflict with the new e n tre p re n e u ria l concepts and with the -ev er-acceleratin g -speed of change now current in our age of highly sophisticated technology and information.Some of these entrepreneurs became so rem ote that they lost their international competitiveness and were replaced by m ore creative managers, who believe in the future potential of the world m arket and who cast a glance over the fence of their own region or even country, and who move with the times because they see that it is about time to go international, based on a m odern concept of competitive managem ent and technology.
But this, of course, leads to a further erosion of religious elem ents in the philosophy of the firms and it affects the managerial policy -without any doubt.Small and medium sized enterprises have found a complement in larger companies coming into this region and by capital flow from outside.
I come to the conclusion that it is not socialism that is the challenge now or in times to come.Socialist ideas have undoubtedly failed to have any practicability because they have proven to be unsuccessful w herever they have been applied.It is still the free m arket mechanism which has proved its efficacy and which during changing times has to be kept at the peak of its potentiality.The m odern free m arket system, once born from the ideas giving rise to the spirit of capitalism, based on the acquisitive principle and the principle of social responsibility, led to new industrial relations by which the spirit of capitalism was converted into the spirit of free enterprise.W e can also speak of a social m arket economy which has become the first and constitutive principle for any modern westernized industrialized country.

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O riginally p resen ted as a lecture on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Faculty of E conom ic and M anagem ent Sciences, Ihe D ep artm en t o f E conom ics o f the U niversity of Pretoria.
re s b y te ria n -d e m o c ra tic style.T h e an tia u th o rita ria n aspect could be seen as being disinclined vis-a-vis any ecclesiastical authority, and in a loathing for an official church with pastors and an ecclesiastical bu reau cracy .W hile th e p rin cip le o f activity and th e an ti-w o rld ly -m in d ed n ess, following the principle of strict conduct of life, helps us to a b e tte r understanding of Max W e b e r's co ncep ts o f th e P ro te sta n t eth ic, th e last two c h a ra c te ristic s, the consciousness of exclusiveness and the a n ti-a u th o rita rian sense o f solidarity, are conducive to the understanding of the very special nature of the Siegerland mentality^(Dahm,1982:491).ConclusionW hat strik es one ab o u t the w hole m a tte r is th e u n iq u e co m b in atio n o f pietistic religiousness and th e striving for econom ic p erfo rm an ce which m eans econom ic efficiency as well.
betw een 1904 and 1920.His research undoubtedly ranks forem ost among the scientific studies which attem pt to explain the secret of economic efficiency and the durability of capitalism based on the reliable work of the invisible hand.Moreover, Max W eber's theses, of course, belong to the most stimulating, yet very controversial subjects in m odern social science.Since this is my sixth visit to South Africa to teach econom ics in your country, and my third to your university, I am aw are th a t the universities here im part considerable knowledge and thus most of the academ ics and students will be familiar with the scientific work of Max W eber.
Considerable research has been carried out in Germ any by Max W eber on the Protes tant work ethic within his fundam ental work on The Protestant ethic and the spirit o f Bodo B. Gemper capitalism, ^ Recom m endation for further reading:Jenkins, H elm ut W. 1980.Leistung ■ ein inhum aner A nspruchl Z u m Urspmng und zur Krilik d es Leistungsprinzips.(P erfo rm a n c e -an inhum an dem an d? O rigin and critique of the perform ance principle).Frankfurt on Main.Poggi, G ian franco 1983.Calvinism and the capitalist spirit.M ax Weber's Protestant ethic.London et al.