Home > Werner Sombart
Werner Sombart ( January 19, 1863- May 18, 1941) was a German economist and sociologist, the head of the "Youngest Historical School" and one of the leading Continental European social scientists during the first quarter of the 20th century.1 Life and Work
1.1 Early Career, Socialism, and Economics
He was born in Ermsleben, Harz, Germany, as the son of a wealthy liberal politician, industrialist, and estate-owner, Anton Ludwig Sombart, and studied at the universities of Pisa, Berlin, and Rome, both law and economics. In 1888, he received his Ph.D. from Berlin under the direction of Gustav von Schmoller, then the most eminent German economist.
As an economist and especially social activist, Sombart was then seen as radically left-wing, and so only received - after some practical work as head lawyer of the BremenBremen [ˈbreːmən] is a city in northern Germany (official name: Freie und Hansestadt Bremen referring to its membership in the medieval Hanseatic League) situated along the river Weser. Bremen is one of two towns belonging to the stat Chamber of Commerce - a junior professorship at the out-of-the-way University of Breslau. Although faculties at such eminent universities as HeidelbergHeidelberg (halfway between Stuttgart and Frankfurt) is a city in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. As of 2002, there are 140,000 people living on the city's 109 km2. Heidelberg Castle, Heiliggeist Church and the Old Bridge Heidelberg lies on the river Neckar a and FreiburgThis article is about Freiburg in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. There is also a village named Freiburg (Elbe) in northwestern Germany. Freiburg (Freiburg im Uechtland) is also the (Swiss-)German name of the town of Fribourg, Switzerland. Freiburg im Breisga called him on chairs, the governments always vetoed this. Sombart, at that time, was an important MarxianMarxian theory is theory which intends to follow and expand upon Karl Marx's economic analysis or political philosophy, or at least from parts of it. To some, it is distinct from Marxism in that it does not lean entirely upon the work of Marx and other wi, not a Marxist, but someone who used and interpreted Karl MarxKarl Heinrich Marx ( May 5, 1818 March 14, 1883) was an influential German economist, philosopher, social and political theorist. Although Marx addressed many issues in his career as a journalist and philosopher, he is most famous for his analysis of hist - to the point that Friedrich Engels called him the only German professor who understood Das Kapital.
In 1902, his magnum opus, Der moderne Kapitalismus, appeared in six volumes. This book coins the word " Capitalism" (which Marx had actually not used!); it is a systematic history of economics and economic development through the centuries and very much a work of the Historical School. Although later much disparaged by neo-classical economists, and much criticized in specific points, it is still today a standard work with important ramifications for, e.g., the Annales school ( Fernand Braudel). The book has been translated into many languages, but not into English, as Princeton University Press obtained and holds to the English copyright but did and does not produce the work.
In 1906, Sombart accepted a call to a full professorship at the Berlin School of Commerce, an inferior institution to Breslau but closer to political "action" than Breslau. Here, i.a., companion volumes to Modern Capitalism dealing with luxury, fashion, and war as economic paradigms appear; especially the former two are the key works on the subject until today. In 1906 also appeared his Why is there no Socialism in the United States?, which, while naturally having been questioned since then, is the classical work on American exceptionalism in this respect.
