From Protestant Ethic to Neoliberal Logic: Evangelicals at the Interface of Culture and Politics

Guest, Mathew

doi:10.1163/9789004505315_025

From Protestant Ethic to Neoliberal Logic: Evangelicals at the Interface of Culture and Politics

Guest, Mathew

Authors

Professor Mathew Guest m.j.guest@durham.ac.uk
Head Of Department

Contributors

Ralph W. Hood
Editor

Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor
Editor

Abstract

This article brings Max Weber’s argument about the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism into conversation with contemporary accounts of society framed by neoliberalism and traces some implications in terms of emergent patterns of authority. It asks how an alignment between Evangelicalism and capitalism has fostered a distinctive cross-fertilisation in recent years, including a re-negotiation of what counts as normative, credible, and successful. It argues that a moralised sense of vocation has been overtaken in some influential circles by an urge to mirror the embodied and broadcast aesthetics of the entertainment industry, and by the importation of business strategies that instrumentalise capital, influence and media exposure. Drawing on examples from recent Anglo-American Evangelical history – inspired in turns by a desire for evangelistic success and political influence – the article examines how this pattern is both rooted in a long-standing tradition of technological engagement while also moving into a phase that foregrounds utilitarian logic in order to maximise Evangelical exposure and credibility.

Citation

Guest, M. (2022). From Protestant Ethic to Neoliberal Logic: Evangelicals at the Interface of Culture and Politics. In R. W. Hood, & S. Cheruvallil-Contractor (Eds.), Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 32: Lesser Heard Voices in Studies of Religion (482-507). Brill Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004505315_025

Acceptance Date	Feb 11, 2022
Online Publication Date	May 16, 2022
Publication Date	2022
Deposit Date	May 2, 2022
Publicly Available Date	Jun 13, 2022
Publisher	Brill Academic Publishers
Pages	482-507
Series Title	Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion
Series Number	32
Book Title	Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 32: Lesser Heard Voices in Studies of Religion
Chapter Number	23
ISBN	9789004505315
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004505315_025