Redefining Weber’s Protestant Ethic in China: From Persecuted and Poor to Patriotic, Pious, and Prosperous Citizens

• In Event: 1580 - Section on Sociology of Religion Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 08. Using Religion: Practical Uses of Religious Resources

Abstract

The Chinese Communist Party has historically repudiated the infiltration of Western ideological, and particularly, religious influences into the country. At the same time, the number of Chinese Protestants (CPs), continues to exponentially increase over the last decade up to the present, with the most recent estimates close to 60 million accounting for both state-sanctioned and house churches. While Western scholars, media, and NGOs have tended to portray CPs as an oppressed and persecuted population, the narratives shared by CPs in interviews as well as their public behavior increasingly suggest an active redefining of their role and place in contemporary Chinese society as patriotic, pious, productive, and prosperous citizens in the context of China’s systemic corruption and moral decline, perceived by both citizens and leaders to be deeply-rooted problems crippling China. In their narratives, CPs often draw on Max Weber’s Protestant Ethic, the concept of “calling,” and their own religious and moral beliefs as justificatory and explanatory narratives, legitimating their role and place to the CCP as upright citizens who further the economic prosperity and social welfare of their country. Based on 24 months of ethnographic fieldwork and 40 in-depth interviews, I identify five common themes that illustrate the above: 1) the role of prayer in resolving workplace politics and pressures 2) ambivalence and unease felt by CPs over what they perceived to be ambiguous “ethical grey zones.” 3) personal accounts of spiritual and/or moral failures and challenges 4) personal accounts of “success” in the workplace (i.e. creatively resolving ethical dilemmas) and 5) emphasis on building and maintaining trust, honesty, and integrity for long-term success.

Author

• Grace Tien, Princeton University