Pro-Climate Asceticism and the Spirit of Capitalism: Reflections on the Justification of Capitalism in the Context of the Climate Catastrophe Cover Image

Asceza proklimatyczna a duch kapitalizmu. Rozważania na temat zasadności usprawiedliwiania kapitalizmu w obliczu katastrofy klimatycznej
Pro-Climate Asceticism and the Spirit of Capitalism: Reflections on the Justification of Capitalism in the Context of the Climate Catastrophe

Author(s): Bartosz Kamiński
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Sociology, Radical sociology , Economic development, Environmental interactions
Published by: Wydział Socjologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: climate catastrophe; spirit of capitalism; Giorgio Agamben; asceticism; oikonomía

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to consider whether the changes associated with the climate catastrophe are leading to the discrediting of the “spirit of capitalism” and whether there is a contemporary need to introduce the “spirit of anti-capitalism.” The existence of capitalism has been justified since its inception – John Locke did so in the 17th century; Max Weber explained how Protestant ethics were used to this end; and at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, similar analyses of this phenomenon were conducted by Luc Boltanski and Ève Chiapello. The article analyses these concepts in the context of the economic theology presented by Giorgio Agamben. The works of Giorgio Agamben and Michel Foucault serve as inspiration for formulating the notions of the “spirit of anti-capitalism” and the corresponding “pro-climate asceticism” in the article

  • Issue Year: 2024
  • Issue No: 27
  • Page Range: 69-99
  • Page Count: 31
  • Language: Polish
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