ABSTRACT
There is no doubt that profound changes have been unfolding and are occurring in the institutional fabric and individual lives within contemporary capitalist societies. Are these changes, especially those crowded into the last three decades, a rupture introducing a new phase of capitalism as Harvey (1989, 1996) suggests, or simply a radicalising of what has occurred earlier in the century as Giddens (1990) proposes? The question of how contemporary changes might be characterised and interpreted has some parallels in the debates between Weber and Schumpeter to reinterpret the theories and visions proposed by Marx. The similarity is deceptive and important differences are more apparent.
