“The Orthodox Spirit and the Ethic of Capitalism”: A Case Study on Serbia and Montenegro and the Serbian Orthodox Church

The fundamental tenant of the Vienna Conference on “The Orthodox Spirit and the Ethic of Capitalism” is to endeavor towards an Orthodox Christian approach to capitalism, predicated upon Max Weber’s monumental work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Accordingly, Weber attempted to develop a systematic understanding of the emergence of capitalism in the West, which preceded other societies that had a seemingly advantageous climate to bolster market economies. According to the Weberian doctrine, it was Calvinist Protestantism that fostered an ethic of capitalism, catapulting their faithful toward the acquisition of wealth as an indicator of their being among the elect of God. Peter L. Berger, Director of the Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs at Boston University, asserts that Weber’s findings have “opened a debate that continues to this day concerning the impact of religious belief on social action. This debate has been examined in a variety of national and religious contexts—from Latin America to Asia, from Protestantism and Catholicism to Confucianism to Buddhism. However, the basic Weberian as-