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2025-06-12 16:45
2025-06-12 18:15
Europe/Rome
Max Weber, histories of capitalism, and the pitfalls of disciplinary divides
Refectory Badia Fiesolana
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This lecture, co-organised by the EUI Department of History and the Max Weber Programme (MWP), features a talk by Honoris Causa recipient Francesca Trivellato (Princeton Institute for Advanced Study).
Contrary to what is often said, Max Weber did not believe that Protestantism (or even Puritanism) was the sole driving force behind the rise of capitalism. In fact, he struggled throughout his life to analyse both the institutional and the psychological underpinnings of what he saw as a distinctively modern and Western phenomenon and he never fully reconciled the two.
In this lecture co-sponsored by the EUI Department of History and the Max Weber Programme for Postdoctoral Studies, Prof. Trivellato will highlight some of the reasons why the two strains of Weber's theories of Western capitalism are not better known beyond a small circle of specialists. She will also discuss how recognising the unfinished and provisional nature of his work can help us navigate treacherous disciplinary waters.
About the speaker:
Francesca Trivellato is Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Early Modern European History in the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. She was Fernand Braudel Fellow at the EUI in May and June 2023.