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David M. Bethea and Christina Y. Bethin, eds. American Contributions to the 15th International Congress of Slavists, Minsk, August 2013. Bloomington, IN: Slavica, 13–27. The Russian Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism: Attitudes toward Work through the Eyes of Russian Literature Konstantin Kustanovich A quarter of a century after changes began in Russia, the country has failed to develop modern capitalism: corruption in the country runs rampant, business development is curtailed by bureaucracy, and the political system dominates both the judicial and economic segments of society. In addition to these aspects of the Russian economy that are obvious and widely discussed, I suggest that the development of modern capitalism in Russia has been held back by a lack of the “spirit of capitalism” in the general population, about which Max Weber wrote more than a century ago. In this essay I discuss Russian attitudes toward work as exemplified in Russian literature, and compare and juxtapose them to Weber’s and Talcott Parsons’s descriptions of the work ethic necessary for the development of modern capitalist society. In his famous work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism Weber contrasts a traditional attitude toward work with the capitalist one based on the Protestant ethic. In particular, he observes that in economic traditionalism (the traditional economic ethic as opposed to the Protestant ethic) increasing the piece rate salary does not increase productivity. Instead of producing more and working more to make more money, people prefer to work less and be content with the same amount of money they made before the increase. “The opportunity of earning more appealed to him [traditional worker] less than the idea of working less” (Weber 2009: 72). Comparing traditional female workers and female workers from Pietist homes, Weber establishes that the former were unable and unwilling “to give up customary and once-mastered modes of work in favor of other, more practical work techniques . […] The situation is often different only with young women from a specific religious background, namely for women from Pietist homes” (78). The traditional worker, according to Weber, is striving for “maximum of ease and comfort and a minimum of productivity” (78). 14 KONSTANTIN V. KUSTANOVICH In Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy depicts a similar juxtaposition of two attitudes toward work. The protagonist, Konstantin Levin, is trying to manage his estate in a rational, “capitalist” way, organizing work in the fields in the most efficient manner and introducing the latest imported machinery to facilitate and expedite labor. His efforts, however, meet continual resistance from his peasants. Their work habits bear a striking resemblance to Weber’s presentation of economic traditionalism: “He [Levin] was fighting for every farthing […] whereas they [the peasants] were only anxious to be left to do their work lazily and comfortably, in other words, to work the way they always had done. […] What the labourer wanted was to take it as easy as possible, with rests, and, especially, not have the trouble of worrying and thinking” (Tolstoy 1986: 344). The peasants work for money, but they will not increase their labor or productivity to earn more. When they can, they swindle Levin by working less than they should, such as mowing for hay a field with good seed clover instead of the field overgrown with weeds that he had told them to mow. It is easier to cut the former than the latter. They would perform some extra work if Levin asked but not for extra money. They ask for vodka, which both gives them instant gratification and shows the master’s appreciation of their work: money is impersonal; vodka is personal. Levin’s attempts to introduce new machinery at his estate fail abysmally. He [Levin] sent out the tedder to pitch the hay – it got broken in the first few rows because the peasant found it dull sitting on the seat in front with the blades swinging over his head. And he was told, “Don’t worry, master; sure the women will toss it in no time.” The ploughs were practically useless because it never entered the peasant’s head to raise the share at the end of the furrow – the horses were forced to wrench the plough round, straining themselves and tearing up the ground. (344–45) Tolstoy leads Levin to the eventual realization that Western ways are inapplicable on Russian soil because what motivates the Russian peasant is not the mind, which is aimed at making more and more money, but the heart, which accepts only labor...

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