Max Weber and Walter Benjamin: Politics facing Capitalism

Abstract: The article compares the relationship between capitalism and politics in Max Weber’s and Walter Benjamin’s works. Benjamin’s text Kapitalismus als Religion references Weber’s Die protestantische Ethik und der ‘Geist’ des Kapitalismus . In recent decades, a considerable number of studies have focused on highlighting the differences and affinities between the thinking of Weber and Benjamin. In contrast, this article takes a rarely pursued approach by introducing an overarching point of reference which examines Weber’s and Benjamin’s views on politics. The article asks what potentialities politics has for Weber and Benjamin given the conditions that capitalism imposes. In order to pursue this question, we need to analyse not only Weber’s Protestant Ethic but also some earlier writings that are indicative of the relationship between capitalism and politics: Weber’s Argentinische Kolonistenwirthschaften , Die Börse. I. Zweck und äußere Organisation der Börsen , and Die Börse. II. Der Börsenverkehr ; and Benjamin’s Theologisch-politisches Fragment and Zur Kritik der Gewalt . My argument is that there is a common ground between Weber and Benjamin on politics since both contribute to the idea that the analysis of modern politics must consider the transformations in capitalism. For Weber, political action can provide meaning to the world, in a context of dispute and in a tragic plot of irreversible forces. For Benjamin, politics refers to the possibility of interrupting the course of history, characterised by the persistence of myth that must be overcome.