The Serbian and Yugoslav Reception of Werner Sombart (1895-2022)

Abstract

Following the publication of voluminous works such as Socialism and the Social Movement, German Economic Life in the 19th Century and Modern Capitalism, Werner Sombart (1863-1941) became one of the most prominent, most widely read and most translated European intellectuals of the first half of the 20th century. Sombart became very popular not only in Germany but also in other countries in Europe and beyond (particularly in Italy and Japan). As Reiner Grundmann and Nico Stehr have observed, the period after Sombart’s death in 1941 was marked by great changes in European and global sociological and economic thought. Consequently, Sombart was gradually marginalized and removed from the ranks of mainstream authors. Although he was held in high regard by, among others, Fernand Braudel and Joseph Schumpeter, Sombart’s work was neglected due to the paradigm changes in economics and sociology, with priority given to authors who based their research on traditions opposed to German historicism and Marxism.

The history of this author’s reception among the Serbian and Yugoslav public is characterized by disontinuity and, compared to Max Weber and Karl Marx, insufficient comprehensiveness in its approach. It can be argued that the Serbian academic community has followed the trends in European scholarship from the late 19th century to the present day. In all analyses to date, Werner Sombart’s extensive oeuvre has been reduced to certain aspects (capitalism, social pluralism, a critique of his conceptions).

Werner Sombart had a significant presence up until 1941. Even in these circumstances Serbian scholars, unlike Croatian ones, devoted more attention to ideas about the twilight and crisis of capitalism, the relationship between the state and the economy, the role of luxury and spending by the rich in the genesis of modern economic life. During communism Sombart’s work was completely marginalized due to ideological factors, a change of paradigm and a negative perception of his role in Germany’s political life. Also, Serbian sociology and social sciences more generally followed the trend of according great recognition to Max Weber, which, until the collapse of communism, had been limited, but following the breakup of Yugoslavia and the beginning of transition, increasingly overt and widespread, replacing the absolute dominance of the Marxist paradigm.

And while Sombart has been completely neglected by the Croatian public, in Serbia there has been a revival of interest thanks to the recent translations of the study Luxury and Capitalism (2011) and the wartime pamphlet Traders and Heroes (2018). New research has drawn attention not only to the geopolitical aspects of Sombart’s thought, but also to his wartime engagement and the genesis of his ideas, which can be situated within the traditions of reactionary modernism.