Ch 5 115 127 Ritzer McDonaldization of America 1 Formal organization focus on bureaucracy 2 Bureaucracy a Essential Characteristics i Seven characteristics of bureaucracy 1 Efficiency All activities are coordinated to maximize efficiency in meeting goals 2 Specialization division of labor Each member has specific tasks to fulfill 3 Hierarchy of authority chain of command in which positions are arranged in terms of authority and responsibility 4 Rules and Regulations handbooks manuals policies 5 etc Impersonal relationships It is the office that is important not the person who holds the office 6 Technical competence Positions filled on the basis of specific qualifications and technical training Persons advance on the basis of merit and seniority 7 Formal written communication and records Memos b Problems and emails i Problems with bureaucracy 1 Dehumanization and alienation People in bureaucracies feel more like objects than people 2 Ritualism Overemphasis on rules and regulations red tape 3 Bureaucratic Inertia Tendency for bureaucratic organization to perpetuate themselves 4 Oligarchy Rule of many by the few Hierarchy and structured inequality make bureaucracies extremely non democratic institutions 3 Rationalization tradition rationality etc Example from reading a Work world beings to overtake our life world b The US is probably the most rationalized because they work the most and have the least amount of vacation c Ritzer Show examples of Weber s fear i Examples 1 Family dinner isn t cooked anymore it is just bought from a store 2 Speed reading Get the main point but not get the actually knowledge about it 3 Camping It is designated areas that have utilities 4 Grove has become rationalized as well d Foucault 1926 1984 i Power of bureaucratic organizations is based on 1 Discipline the rational control of individuals time and space a Coordinated time regimes time clocks schedules planners etc b Physical Settings space architecture partitions cubicles lines etc 2 Control is maintained through a Surveillance regular supervision to ensure the pace of labor is maintained i Direct supervision video camera etc Indirect supervision record keeping ii files b Punishment and rewards i Petty humiliations getting yelled out for doing something ii Ranking through grading and evaluating most significant for Foucault 3 Foucault s points is that discipline has become so familiar that it pervades society we have become a surveillance society ii Koyaanisgatsi life out of balance 1 Shot in time lapse and play back and regular speed 4 McDonaldization a McDonaldization Rationalization of society the growing emphasis on efficiency and rationality that is taking over our society b Main principles i Efficiency ii Standardization iii Uniformity and predictability iv Control through automation c Author believe that everything in our lives has become mcdonaldized 5 Iron Cage a Iron cage Situation in society when rationalization becomes so extensive that it overtakes human freedom Ability of humans to act outside the rational mindset is reduced to nothing Ch 16 446 455 1 Modernity What is modernity and how has it come to be a Max Weber bureaucracy b Max Weber 1864 1920 Predicted that students would feel the way c He was afraid that people would feel oppressed by the bureaucracy of d Observed social changes in Europe as a result of industrialization e Noticed cultural shift from traditional orientations in favor of they do now the times rationality i Tradition the idea that the past is the best guide for the present customs should not be lightly abandoned ii Rationality Emphasis on efficiency and practicality as the best way to accomplish tasks 1 Made sense that whatever was most efficient and cost effective would become the norm f The rationalization of society the widespread acceptance of rationality over tradition as the best to run human affairs g Example of the biggest rationalization of society is the rise of modern bureaucracy i An organizational model designed to efficiently perform tasks h Modern time is something that people have defined 2 Theories of modernity a Toennies Loss of community i Ferdinand Toennies 1855 1937 1 Loss of community the small town contains very important social bonds 2 Gemeinschaft Close social bonds of community based on kinship and tradition traditional rural society 3 Gesellschaft Social organization in which people come together only on the basis of individual self interest modern urban industrial society b Durkheim Division of labor anomie i Emile Durkeim 1858 1917 1 Division of labor Specialized economic activity Labor in society is divided up into highlighted specialized tasks 2 Supported modernity thought that it would be a good idea 3 Mechanical solidarity Social bonds based on common sentiments and shared moral values Similar to Gemeinschaft 4 Organic solidarity Social bonds based on mutual economic interdependence 5 Anomie Condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals c Weber Rationalization i Weber saw rationalization as logical and therefore inevitable He believed the rational mindset and the bureaucratic form of human organization were going to take over all of society d Marx The emergence of capitalism class conflict and class society i Karl Marx 1818 1883 1 Capitalism Economic system in which natural resources and means of producing goods and services are privately owned 2 Class conflict Capitalists private owners and proletarians workers have opposing interests and are separated by a vast gulf of wealth and power Leading to conflict between them Workers will eventually seek to overthrow owners but must overcome worker alienation the sense of isolation and powerlessness first e Foucault Discipline from class notes i Foucault 1926 1984 1 Power of bureaucratic organizations is based on a Discipline the rational control of individuals time and space i Coordinated time regimes time clocks schedules planners etc ii Physical Settings space architecture partitions cubicles lines etc b Control is maintained through i Surveillance regular supervision to ensure the pace of labor is maintained 1 Direct supervision video camera 2 etc Indirect supervision record keeping files ii Punishment and rewards 1 Petty humiliations getting yelled out for doing something 2 Ranking through grading and evaluating most significant for Foucault c Foucault s points is that discipline has become so familiar that it pervades society we have become a