A green spirit of capitalism? Economic ethos in the sustainable transformation

• Applicant: Dr. Gregor Kungl
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 536287570

The planned research project investigates to what extent socio-political engagement with the challenges of climate change leads to alterations in the dominant economic ethos – the spirit of capitalism. Based on the theories of Sombart, Weber and Boltanski/Chiapello, the project aims to investigate how environmental topics are processed ideationally in economic sectors that are central to the sustainable transformation. Six case studies are planned in three of Germany’s most emission-intensive sectors: energy, the processing industry, and food production. The first step will be a qualitative content analysis of publicly accessible documents (statements by industry associations, company reports, media reports), followed by a second step of qualitative interviews with entrepreneurs. The aim of the research project is to carry out a comparative analysis of the concrete expressions of the economic mindset in the sectors in question and to contrast them with the concrete organizational measures that the companies implement to address sustainability challenges. The project focuses on three fundamental questions. Firstly, we intend to determine to what extent the case studies reflect a ‘green spirit of capitalism’. Are environmental motives simply integrated into capitalist meaning structures, or do we observe a partial adaptation of capitalist principles such as profit orientation and competition against the backdrop of environmental challenges? Secondly, we will investigate to what extent environmental topics are treated differently in the various sectors. Can the similarities and differences between the case studies be explained by the characteristics of the different sectors? Thirdly, the question is explored to what extent the economic spirit is reflected in concrete organizational restructuring and substantial changes in organizational practices. What is the connection between the ideational processing of sustainability in companies and its practical implementation? With these questions, the project connects both to sociological debates on how to ecological challenges are addressed in contemporary capitalism and to conceptual work on the sector-specific manifestations of the capitalist spirit and the relationship between the economic spirit and the form of the economy.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants