Editing Late capitalism (section)

===Sombart's legacy===
The term "late capitalism" was first used by the German social scientist [[Werner Sombart]] in a 1928 publication<ref>Specifically, Werner Sombart, "Die Wandlungen des Kapitalismus" [="The transformations of capitalism", a lecture given at the conference of the Vereins für Sozialpolitik in Zürich, on 13 September 1928]. In: ''Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv'', Vol. 28, 1928, pp. 243-256. Transcripts of the conference were published in 1929: Franz Boese (ed.), ''Wandlungen des Kapitalismus. Auslandanleihen. Kredit und Konjunktur auf Grund der stenographischen Niederschrift''. München, Duncker & Humblot 1929. See also [[Talcott Parsons]], "'Capitalism' In Recent German Literature: Sombart and Weber." ''Journal of Political Economy'', Vol. 36, No. 6, December 1928, pp. 641-661.</ref> after he had completed his three-volume magnum opus ''Der Moderne Kapitalismus'' ["Modern Capitalism"], which was published from 1902 through 1927 (only the first volume of Sombart's ''Modern capitalism'' has been translated into English so far.<ref>Werner Sombart, ''Modern Capitalism - Volume 1: The Pre-Capitalist Economy: A systematic historical depiction of Pan-European economic life from its origins to the present day'', parts I and II. Wellington, New Zealand: K. A. Nitz Publishing, 2019 and 2023.</ref> Sombart divided capitalism into different historical stages of development:
* Pre-capitalist or proto-capitalist society (''vorkapitalistische Wirtschaft'') from the early [[Middle Ages]] up to 1500 AD, the subject of the first volume of ''Modern capitalism''.
* Early capitalism (''Frühkapitalismus'') in 1500–1800, dealt with in the second volume.
* The heyday of capitalism, or advanced capitalism (''Hochkapitalismus'') from 1800 to [[World War I]], the subject of the third volume.<ref>In this volume, Sombart does not explicitly mention or analyze "late capitalism", although he identifies some new trends, such as the increased role of the state in the economy.</ref>
* Late capitalism (''Spätkapitalismus'') since then, discussed or referred to in a few lectures and articles.<ref>Werner Sombart, "Die Wandlungen des Kapitalismus".In: ''Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv'', Vol. 28, 1928, pp. 243-256; Werner Sombart, "Economic Theory and Economic History". ''The Economic History Review'', Vol. 2, No. 1, January 1929, pp. 1-19; Werner Sombart, "Kapitalismus". In: Alfred Vierkandt (ed.), ''Handwörterbuch der Soziologie'' [1931], 2nd edition. Stuttgart: Enke Verlag, 1931 , pp. 258-277; Werner Sombart, ''Die Zukunft des Kapitalismus''[=The future of capitalism, a lecture dated 29 February 1932, edited by [[Elmar Altvater]]]. Berlin: Mimesis Verlag, 2017; Werner Sombart, "Capitalism", in: ''Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, Volume 3''. New York: Macmillan, 1930, pp. 195-208.</ref>

Concluding his 1928 Zürich lecture on the transformations of capitalism, Sombart stated:

{{Quote|"Today we are in a new era. It is obvious that [the beginning of] the new epoch is  defined by the [first] World War. What this period is called is to an extent arbitrary, although of course some names will be more appropriate than others in particular situations. I have suggested the term 'late capitalism', because I know of no other expression which characterizes this era better. I hope that this term will be favourably received; I am aware, of course, of how much aversion there is, particularly among [academic] colleagues, to accepting unfamiliar  new terminology – as Max Weber once put it: 'as if it were a question of using someone else's  toothbrush.' There is always a possibility that other expressions will prevail. But what is most important is not the name, but the phenomenon itself, the thesis that this is a new era of economic life, as well as the issue of the characteristics of this era. If agreement can be reached about that, I would consider my task fullfilled.<ref> Werner Sombart, "Die Wandlungen des Kapitalismus" [Vortrag, gehalten auf der Tagung des Vereins für Sozialpolitik zu Zürich am 13e September 1928]. In: ''Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv'', Vol. 28, pp. 243-256, at pp. 255-256. At almost exactly the same time, [[Joseph A. Schumpeter]] wrote: "Capitalism is... in so obvious a process of transformation into something else, that it is not the fact, but only the  interpretation of the fact, about which it is possible to disagree.(…) Capitalism, whilst economically stable, and even gaining in stability, creates, by rationalising the human mind, a mentality and a style of life incompatible with its own fundamental conditions, motives and social institutions and will be changed, although not by economic necessity and probably even at some sacrifice of economic welfare, into an order of things which it will be merely a matter of taste to call Socialism or not." Joseph Schumpeter, "The instability of capitalism". ''The Economic Journal'', Vol. 38, Issue 151, September 1928, pp. 361—386.</ref> }}

Beyond a few articles and lectures, however, Sombart never published any comprehensive treatise on late capitalism. His studies were disrupted by the new Nazi government when he was 70 years old (he died in 1941, when he was 78). Like many other German intellectuals, he hoped that [[Hitler]]'s leadership would revive Germany from more than a decade of economic woes, social decay and misery; he regarded [[national socialism]] as a type of [[socialism]], and he supported the [[Nazi party|Nazi Party]] (while retaining much of his intellectual independence, as a [[septuagenarian]]). Because of this fact and because of his sociological portrayals of [[Jews]] and [[Judaism]] in some of his writings,<ref> See for example: Werner Sombart, [https://classiques.uqam.ca/classiques/sombart_werner/Jews_and_modern_capitalism/sombart_jews_capitalism.pdf ''The Jews and modern capitalism'']. Kitchener: Batoche Books, 2001.</ref> he was often regarded as a "Nazi intellectual" and as [[anti-semitic|antisemitic]].<ref>According to the antisemitic ideologue [[Theodor Fritsch]], Sombart was far too friendly to Jewry in his analysis, but Fritsch (like many other antisemitists) was not averse to plagiarizing Sombart's ideas to bolster his own case. See: Jerry Z. Muller, ''The Mind and the Market: Capitalism in Modern European Thought''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf 2002, p. 255; [[Theodor Fritsch]] [under the pseudonym of F. Roderich-Stoltheim], ''The riddle of the Jews' success''. Leipzig: Hammer Verlag, 1927, chapter 6.[https://archive.org/details/TheRiddleOfTheJewsSuccess/page/n1/mode/2up]</ref> It meant that after World War II, his writings and ideas largely vanished from university curricula.<ref>Reiner Grundmann and Nico Stehr, "Why Is Werner Sombart Not Part of the Core of Classical Sociology?: From Fame to (Near) Oblivion." ''Journal of Classical Sociology'', Volume 1, Issue 2, 2001.</ref> Only since the late 1980s<ref>Bernhard vom Brocke (ed.), ''Sombart's "Moderner Kapitalismus": Materialien zur Kritik und Rezeption''. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1987.</ref> and 1990s<ref>Jürgen Backhaus (ed.), ''Werner Sombart (1863-1941), Social scientist. Vol. 1: His life and Work, Vol. 2: His Theoretical Approach Reconsidered, Vol. 3: Then and Now''. Weimar bei Marburg: Metropolis Verlag, 1996; Jürgen Backhaus (ed.), ''Werner Sombart (1863 - 1941) - Klassiker der Sozialwissenschaften Eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme''. Marburg: Metropolis Verlag, 2000; Nico Stehr & Reiner Grundmann (eds.), ''Werner Sombart: Economic Life in the Modern Age''. New Brunswick: Transaction, 2001; Christopher Adair-Toteff, ''Werner Sombart und der „Geist“ des modernen Kapitalismus. Wiederentdeckung eines Klassikers.'' Cham: Springer Gabler, 2025.</ref> did significant scholarly interest in Sombart's intellectual legacy begin to revive, with new appraisals and studies of particular aspects of his oeuvre.