author
Werner Sombart
1863–1941
A major German social scientist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he explored how capitalism developed and how modern economic life reshaped society. His work moved across economics, sociology, history, and culture, which is why he remains a debated and influential figure.
1 Audiobook
Socialism and the Social Movement in the 19th Century
by Werner Sombart
About the author
Born in 1863, Werner Sombart was a German economist and sociologist whose writing helped shape early debates about capitalism, socialism, and modern society. He taught at the universities of Breslau and Berlin and became known for sweeping historical studies that connected economic change with culture, politics, and everyday life.
He is especially remembered for Der moderne Kapitalismus (Modern Capitalism), a large multi-volume study of the rise of capitalism, and for Why Is There No Socialism in the United States?, which asked why American society had developed differently from parts of Europe. His writing ranged widely, from business life and war to luxury, religion, and the role of the bourgeois class.
Sombart’s reputation has remained complicated. He was widely read and influential in his own time, but later scholars have also examined his political shifts and criticized parts of his work, especially where it intersected with nationalism and antisemitism. Even so, he is still important in the history of social thought because he tried to explain modern capitalism as more than just an economic system: for him, it was a whole way of life.