The Psycho-Sociological Nature of Nativistic
Movements and the Emergence of Cultural Growth
By Simone Clemhout
Cultural growth or change is perhaps a major aspect of the decline and
fall of societies about which Toynbee was concerned. Being at the cross-roads
of anthropology, economics, psychology and sociology it is of interest to all
social sciences *. It seems that the understanding of this process would be of
great help for the comprehension of the pre-conditions of economic growth.
“We think of cultures as entities because patterns and unifying principles link
values and provide value orientations. The processes which create value
orientations are thus unifying and coordinating mechanisms for social action,
including the economy, and value orientations once formed give a circum
scribing framework to future action” (Belshaw, p. 112). The crux of the matter
is what are these processes creating value orientations and these mechanisms
for social action?
The well-known studies of Max Weber are an attempt in the direction
of finding such explanations. His view of the “Protestant Ethic being a
“spirit” highly favorable to innovation and entrepreneurship because of the
values generating such “spirit” leads to further considerations. In the process
of revision of “ideas” by minorities would it be that there is “a pattern” of
values necessary for the creation of such a “spirit” ? Or are there many patterns
whose end result is the creation of such a “spirit” ? Is there anything pertaining
exclusively to the “Western Spirit” or is it a more general phenomenon ? Is the
presence of such spirit noted at other times and other places besides the Western
“industrial revolution” ? The only non-Western nations which have experienced
a genuine rapid economic growth are Japan, Russia, and China recently. Some
of the studies made for Japan reach the conclusion that in the Japanese case
a spirit of hard work in the world and an ascetic attitude towards consumption
were present (Bellah, p. 119). It seems interesting to enquire beyond the
Western world whether a “spirit” similar to Weber’s “Protestant Ethic”
* I am very grateful for suggestions and comments to the Professors E. E. Hagen
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the Talcott Parsons (Harvard University) and
Yeo-hsuan Wan.
Anthropos 61. 1966
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