In 1904-1905 Max Weber published the sociological classic "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism." In this book Weber argues that religion, specifically "ascetic Protestantism" provided the essential social and cultural infrastructure that led to modern capitalism. Weber's suggests that Protestantism has "an affinity for capitalism." Indeed, something within Protestantism-by accident or design-creates the necessary preconditions that lead to the flowering of a just, free, and prosperous society. At the same time, Weber wonders if the economic backwardness of certain societies and regions of the world are somehow related to their religious affiliation. Weber's century old thesis challenges the erroneous core assumptions of many secular humanists, postmoderns, Roman Catholic traditionalists, and Islamists. In view of the threat of the War on Terror, and in the face of the inadequate response of secularist and post-modern intellectuals, it is vital that we understand and appreciate the profound paradigm shift that occurred during the sixteenth and seventeenth century that led to the unfolding of modern capitalism. Despite a plethora of critics Max Weber's one-hundred year old thesis still stands.

Shakespeare's History Plays boldly moves criticism of Shakespeare's history plays beyond anti-humanist theoretical approaches. This important intervention in the critical and theoretical discourse of Shakespeare studies summarises, evaluates and ultimately calls time on the mode of criticism that has prevailed in Shakespeare studies over the past thirty years. It heralds a new, more dynamic way of reading Shakespeare as a supremely intelligent and creative political thinker, whose history plays address and illuminate the very questions with which cultural historicists have been so preoccupied since the 1980s. In providing bold and original readings of the first and second tetralogies (Henry VI, Richard III, Richard II and Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2), the book reignites old debates and re-energises recent bids to humanise Shakespeare and to restore agency to the individual in the critical readings of his plays

Examines the aesthetics, concepts and politics of chaotic and obscured moving images.

This volume could be written differently. It could present the Protestant theological view on the economy from Luther, Zwingli and Calvin until contemporary prominent theologians. Or it could be a description of the teaching of one of the Protestant Churches or denomination. Or it could be an investigation of the traces of Protestant theology in the contemporary prevailing economic order. All such presentations could be hugely interesting and accurate – and they would be reasonable in light of the most critical questions of today's world. However, the authors would propose a different approach that is not disjunctive, contrasting or opposing to the above-mentioned and that instead wants to reveal new trends and processes occurring in the Protestant world and bringing a new, more critical view on capitalism and its offspring, such as consumptionism.

Drawing upon the scholarship of eminent academics and practitioners in the field of Pentecostal and Charismatic studies, this anthology puts into the public domain theological and sociological literature that posits contemporary thinking in key areas of British Pentecostal and Charismatic thought. Contributors include: Professor Anne E. Dyer (Mattersey Hall), Professor William K. Kay (Chester University), Professor David Hilborn, (Moorlands College), Dr R. David Muir (University of Roehampton) and Dr Babatunde A. Adedibu (Redeemed Christian Bible College, Nigeria).

Max Weber's 'The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism' is one of the best-known and most enduring texts of classical sociology, continually inspirational and widely read by both scholars and students. In an insightful and original interpretation, Jack Barbalet discloses that Weber's work is not simply about the cultural origins of capitalism but an allegory concerning the Germany of his day. Situating 'The Protestant Ethic' in the development of Weber's prior and subsequent writing, Barbalet traces changes in his understanding of key concepts including 'calling' and 'rationality'. In a close analysis of the ethical underpinnings of the capitalist spirit and of the institutional structure of capitalism, Barbalet identifies continuities between Weber and the eighteenth-century founder of economic science, Adam Smith, as well as Weber's contemporary, the American firebrand, Thorstein Veblen. Finally, by considering Weber's investigation of Judaism and capitalism, important aspects of his account of Protestantism and capitalism are revealed.

Ideal student introduction to Weber's sociology that offers critical analysis in the context of Weber's political beliefs.