Nov




rd
3
Sign in
Hand in homework #4
Lecture 9: Social Structure, Organizations,
and Rationalization
Homework:



“The Meatrix 1”(for fun!)
http://www.themeatrix1.com/
Pollan, Michael “Power Steer”
http://www.mindfully.org/Food/Power-SteerPollan31mar02.htm
What did you consume today?

Take ten minutes and write a list of the things that
you consumed today (things you purchased and/or
used).

For these items try to list:



How you got it and where
The company responsible for bringing it you (best guess)
EXAMPLE: Dasani tap water, Gav cafeteria, Coca
Cola Corp.
Lecture Nine
Social Structure: Shaping the context of
social interaction
Context of Social Interaction

Social Structure:
Organized patterns of
social relationships and
Beliefs/Values
social institutions
Actions/
Behavior
(Culture)

Social Structure both
reflects and
reproduces our
behavior and culture
Social
Structure
Example: Fast Food Industry

What changes made the fast food industry possible?




Growing car culture in the US
Industrialization of agriculture
Economic boom and increasing disposable income
What changes does the industry make possible in
our lives?



Fast past work environment
Increase in dual income households
Allows us to work harder and more hours

40% of our meals eaten outside of the home

1 in 4 Americans eats FF every day
Rationalization

Rationalization: process by which thought
and action are no longer rooted in emotion,
tradition, but become rooted in ‘value-rational’
thought and action



Value –system (culture)
Organizational structure
The Cow


Hindus – symbol of everything alive
McDonalds – “means to an end”
Social Groups

As society becomes organized around
rationality we shift social life from Primary
groups

Small, face-to-face, intimate, enduring sense of
commitment


Family
To Secondary groups

Large, impersonal with weak ties and short
relationships

Work & school
Modern Organizations

Bureaucracy: organization that uses the
most efficient means to achieve a valued goal





Clear division of labor
Authority is hierarchical
Formal rules and regulation
Impersonality
Power and responsibility lies in the position
Office Space
Corporations

Corporation: legal form of public and
capitalist organization in which control passes
to a managerial group


Organized rationally with the goal of maximizing
profit
A corporation is a social and legal creation
that under US law is a legal person

They can own property, sign contracts, go
bankrupt, pay taxes, and enjoy some
constitutional rights
What did you consume today?
Corporate Society

Corporate Society: society in which large
scale corporations organize and are involved
in social, political decision-making process


Secondary groups that organize our lives
Globalization is bringing about a global
corporate society

Multinational Corporations: operate and
coordinate production, distribution and
consumption across national borders
A New (Global) Rationality?

McDonaldization: organizational principles
of the fast food sector have come to
dominate society




Efficient
Quantification
Predictability
Control thru non-human Technology
Irrationality

According to Ritzer, rational systems can
lead to irrational outcomes

"Most specifically, irrationality means that
rational systems are unreasonable systems.
By that I mean that they deny the basic
humanity, the human reason, of the people
who work within or are served by them."
Disenchantment of the World

Consumer culture at large works to eliminate
genuine human interaction, because
interactions are unpredictable and waste time

As our interactions are structured by rational
environments, there is a break down in
genuine and spontaneous human interaction

“How are you today?”
Affects on Workers & Consumers

Deskilling of labor: requires a work force with
the minimum skills possible to complete
simple focused tasks


This means that they can be quickly and cheaply
trained and are easily replaceable.
Consumers became trained to think and act
rationally


turn consumers into workers
Change our behavior and speech
McDonaldization of Everything?

Three Groups:

#1 Hollywood Movies
#2 Gavilan College
#3 Suburban Housing
Developments

Designate one person
to write for the group
and put all names on
the paper
Explain Characteristics:





Efficient
Quantification
Predictability
Control thru Non-human
Technology
What are the positive
and negative outcomes
of McDonaldization in
the area?
“Iron Cage of Rationality”

According to Weber, rationality can become a cage
in which we are trapped and our basic humanity
denied

As society becomes more rational, people are
locked into a series of rational systems, only able to
move from one system to another


from rationalized educational institutions, to rationalized
workplaces, to rationalized recreational settings, to
rationalized homes.
Society would become a seamless web of
rationalization from which there would be no escape
Threads
What changed in the organization of textile
production?
1.


Rationalization of the production process
One person/one product → many people/one product
What structural changes in society?




$ and wage economy
Work outside the home
Technological changes

How did the apparel industry become
rationalized?

Efficiency


Quantification


SAM’s (pg 31)
Predictability


Deskilling (pg 30) & Section work
Standardized clothing
Control

Skill now equals speed, not craft

What role does technology play?



Quick Response & Information Technology (pg
41)
Creates concentration without centralization
Why did this encourage movement around
the world?

“Favorable business climate”


Low wages, no unionization, cheap resources, subsidies
“Cheap labor” based on gender and racial inequality

Why did brands become important?


Products become standardized, brands are
needed to distinguish them
What organizations play a primary role in the
organization of the apparel industry?


Corporations
Government (trade rules)