Andrew McKinnon

Elective Affinities of the Protestant Ethic: Weber and the Chemistry of Capitalism*

Although scholars have long recognized the importance of “elective affinity” as a key word in Webers sociology, surprisingly little systematic research has gone into understanding this metaphor in Webers writing, or the source from which he drew the term. For Weber, this was an implicit reference to Goethes novel, well known to Webers educated German audience, entitled Elective Affinities (1807). In this article, I provide a systematic account of Goethes conception of elective affinity as a chemical metaphor, and of the way that it is related to Webers uses of the term in the Protestant ethic essays and in his critical rejoinders. By understanding elective affinity as a Goethean chemical metaphor we can better understand the causal claims that Weber makes in his famous essay: Webers argument is best understood as an analysis of emergence in the chemistry of social relations.

Bourdieu, Capital, and Conflict in a Religious Field: The Case of the ‘Homosexuality’ Conflict in the Anglican Communion

Although Bourdieus sociological project is a generalised sociology of religion, his work has not been as influential among sociologists of religion as one might have expected it to be. In this article we provide an overview of Bourdieus analysis of religion, paying particular attention to key problems that have been identified in the literature and suggesting how his work can be understood in such a way as to overcome these limitations. Drawing upon research by two of the authors, we show how Bourdieus sociology is helpful for understanding the conflicts over sexuality in the Anglican Communion.

Ideology and the Market Metaphor in Rational Choice Theory of Religion: a Rhetorical Critique of “Religious Economies”

Despite the many criticisms of the empirical and theoretical adequacy of Rational Choice theory, it continues to have considerable influence and appeal in the sociological study of religion. This article examines the use of the market metaphor and its subsidiary metaphors, with a view to understanding how these metaphors work in rational choice theory, and what this might be able to tell us about its enduring influence. I suggest that the metaphor is a useful one for studying religion in a capitalist, commodity oriented society, but when we forget that the ‘religious economy’ is a metaphor, it comes to serve ideological purposes well suited to the neo-liberal agenda. The market (conceived after a neo-conservative fashion) is thereby naturalized and serves to reinforce the ideology of a one-dimensional society.

Energy and society: Herbert Spencer’s ‘energetic sociology’ of social evolution and beyond

Herbert Spencer is usually thought to use a biological metaphor for understanding social-evolutionary processes. Spencer’s evolutionary theory is an ‘energetic’ theory, premised on a particular understanding of physical principles; he applied these ‘energetic’ principles equally to inorganic, organic and supra-organic (social) evolution. The centrality of energy metaphors makes Spencer’s theory of social evolution directly relevant in a global society where energy has once again become an important political, economic and environmental issue. Spencer omits the social use of non-human energy forms in his writings, and this gap is addressed in the context of its implications for his theory of evolution as a whole, providing a corrective to his oversight.

Metaphors in and for the Sociology of Religion: Towards a Theory after Nietzsche

Metaphors are indispensable for sociological thinking about religion, but they have received much less consideration than they deserve. This article argues the importance of systematic theoretical reflection on metaphors, both in the sociological analysis of religion and in the religious discourse of society. The article provides an outline of Nietzsches early sociological theory of metaphor, situating it as a neglected classic for sociologists of religion in the context of other work on metaphor in the discipline.

George Herbert Mead on Humans and Other Animals: Social Relations after Human-Animal Studies

The turn towards nonhuman animals within sociology has shed a critical light on George Herbert Mead, his apparent prioritisation of language and the anthropocentric focus of Symbolic Interactionism (SI). Although Herbert Blumer canonised Mead as the founder of this perspective he also played a key role in excising the evolutionary and ‘more-than-human’ components in Meads work. This intervention not only misrepresented Meads intellectual project, it also made symbols the predominant concern in Blumers version of SI. Since groundbreaking animal sociologists in America framed much of their thinking in opposition to SIs emphasis on language, because it excluded alingual animal others from sociological consideration, Meads Mind, Self, and Society has largely functioned as a negative classic within this sub-field. Although some scholars recognise there is more in Meads work that is potentially applicable to this interspecies area the attempt to recover what might be helpful has yet to begin (e.g. Alger & Alger 1997). This paper suggests that if the ambiguities and contradictions that exist alongside Meads oft-quoted anthropocentrisms are also attended to this may open up a more positive reading and use of Meads work for animal sociology.

Religion and Social Class : Theory and Method After Bourdieu

This article outlines two inter-related but distinct theoretical approaches to the study of Christianity and Social Class developed from the work of Pierre Bourdieu. The first is a model derived from Distinction (Bourdieu [1979] 1984), the second comes from Bourdieus work on religious fields with a focus on the conversion of capital between different fields. The former, better known, approach has the potential to provide important insights, including identifying the affinity of different religious groups with different class locations; on the other hand, this would tell us little about the internal workings of religious communities; it is also unfortunately hampered by a lack of suitable data. The conception of fields and their inter-relations will not answer the questions about the affinity of particular class fragments for particular kinds of religiosity, but it does provide much keener insight into the operation of class within religious communities, by examining the conversion of different types of capital into religious capital. This is illustrated with an extended Bourdieusian hypothesis, a schematic outline that could be used as the starting point for empirical research on the operation of different kinds of capital in the Church of England.

Elementary forms of the metaphorical life: Tropes at work in Durkheim’s theory of the religious:

Scholars have not infrequently called attention to the master metaphors in Durkheim’s writing, those figures, typically drawn from biology, physics and chemistry, which structure his sociological thought. Less attention has been given to the work that metaphors do in Durkheim’s texts, or to Durkheim’s fundamental ambivalence about metaphor. This paper argues that Durkheim depends on metaphor to construct the building blocks, and not just the overall architecture, of his argument in The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (1912). His conception of the ‘gods’ of totemism makes the theory relevant to modern European religion, and his construction of the concept of the sacred depends on electrical and epidemiological metaphors. I argue that Durkheim’s theory of social representation (the central argument of the book) is a theory of metaphorical relations between social organization and the organization of the cosmos.

Ritual, narrative and time: Bridging between Durkheim and Ricoeur:

Paul Ricoeur’s theory of the narrative constitution of time and Emile Durkheim’s conception of the ritual construction of time seem, at least on first examination, incommensurable. While their important and influential theories of the social constitution of time are not easily harmonised, it is possible to construct several bridges between the two, such that they may, at least, be brought into conversation with one another (a dialogue Ricoeur himself seemed keen to avoid). While the two theories may be mutually exclusive, if we look at the relationship between ritual and narrative, we find unexpected points of possible convergence where bridges may be built. We find that ritual and narrative are themselves not entirely distinct from one another and even sometimes difficult to disentangle. Furthermore, narratives of the past require the calendar (itself owing much to its ritual heritage) to provide a structure for, and a way of marking, the flow of time. Conversely, ritual practices often act as carriers of narrative, assisting the transmission of narratives from generation to generation.