30th Annual Student Research Conference
The Weber Thesis and South Korea
Samantha M. Barnhart
Dr. David Murphy, Faculty Mentor
The economic and religious landscape of South Korea has radically changed since the end of the Korean War. South Korea has gone from being one of the poorest countries in the world to having the 11th highest GDP in 2015. Further, the country has had a rapid increase in their Christian population, Protestants being 3.7 percent of the population in 1957 to being 19.7 percent in 2015. Using the Weber Thesis, that protestant values influenced the rise of capitalism during the Enlightenment, this social scientific study will track the applicability of the Weber Thesis to Christian and capitalistic change in South Korea.
Keywords: South Korea, Max Weber, Christianity, Capitalism
Topic(s):Philosophy & Religion
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 210-1
Location: VH 1224
Time: 9:30