“Changes aren’t permanent but change is.”

The Transformation Over Time of the
Institutions and Culture of Society
• Institutional and cultural change is the rule, not the exception
• Change is constant yet is rarely under complete control (intended and unintended consequences)
• Occurs on micro and macro levels

• Environmental and Population Pressures
– Natural disasters; changing food supplies
• Cultural and Technological Innovation
– Automobile, cell phones, medical treatments, etc.
• Social Movements
– Civil Rights, Women’s, Environmental, Labor, etc.

The “McDonaldization of Society”
Rationalization: From Bureaucracy to Fast Food
• Max Weber
– Viewed bureaucracy as the quintessential feature of the process of rationalization [the means get
you the end efficiently]
• George Ritzer
– Argues that in modern society, the new model of rationalization is the fast food restaurant
– And that rationality has irrational consequences

• Historical development of institutional orders, such as law, the market, etc., all of which are organized by impersonal and amoral principles. The means serve to efficiently get to the end.

• Efficiency
– Achieve the end goal using least amount of time and effort
• Predictability
– The same outcome from different places and different times
• Calculability
– Quantity is valued over quality
• Substitution of non-human for human technology
– Increasing use of non-human technology over people
• Control Over Uncertainty
– Developing systems that give humans control over things they normally wouldn’t have control over

The “Irrationality of Rationalization”
• What might be some ways that rationalization leads to “unreasonable” outcomes?

The “Irrationality of Rationalization”
• Classrooms with too many students

The “Irrationality of Rationalization”
• Classrooms with too many students
• Unhealthy food… and bad health

The “Irrationality of Rationalization”
• Classrooms with too many students
• Unhealthy food… and bad health
• Alienating work

The “Irrationality of Rationalization”
• Classrooms with too many students
• Unhealthy food… and bad health
• Alienating work
• Shopping for “deals” (e.g. WalMartization)

The “Irrationality of Rationalization”
• Classrooms with too many students
• Unhealthy food… and bad health
• Alienating work
• Shopping for “deals” (e.g. WalMartization)
• War on Terror?

Don’t stop! Get it, get it!

• The process through which people’s lives all around the world are economically, politically, environmentally, and culturally interconnected.
• Began early 1970s-ish

Factors Contributing to Globalization
• Communication Networks
• Transportation Advances (e.g. containerization)
• Neo-Liberal Economic Policies
– It is possible that globalization might not have happened without Neo-Liberal ideology

• The term, Neo-Liberal, is not synonymous with
“Liberal” like the word is often used today.
• Classic Economic Liberalism = actually quite
“conservative”
– Governments out of markets, individual freedom within markets, etc.
• Neo = “new”
• Neo-Liberalism = A return to classical economic liberalism

• Free Markets
– To facilitate trade and ease flow of capital
• Deregulation
– Reduce the size of government and its regulation of business activity
• Reduce Social Benefits
– Government provided (publically funded) healthcare, public education, public transportation, welfare, etc.
• Privatization
– Selling of publically owned and operated services to private, for-profit companies (e.g. prisons, etc.)

Neo-Liberalism is the world’s dominant ideology, and has been your entire life, and will probably continue to be for some time yet. It is, in my humble opinion, important to be knowledgeable about the ideas that rule the world, so that if you agree with them you can participate fully and if you disagree, you can work to change things.

• Global Financial Organizations:
– IMF (International Monetary Fund), World Bank,
WTO (World Trade Organization)
• Lending to developing nations
• Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs)
– Procedures by which financial organizations “aid” struggling countries
» Dictate terms of loans to developing countries
» Realign national economies according to Neo-Liberal principles
» Create cycles of debt

• Transnational Corporations (aka Multi-
National Corporations):
– Companies that produce goods or market services in more than one country (e.g. Coca-Cola, General
Motors, Mitsubishi, McDonald’s, etc.)
– Represent the foundation of economic globalization

Keep in mind, as we are discussing this, that none of the people in charge of these institutions are elected by or accountable to us.

• Increased knowledge and sharing of different peoples and cultures
• Spread of technological advancements
• Cheap goods and services
• Sharing the best of what the world has to offer

• Increased global inequality
– 20% of the world accounts for 90% of the world’s consumption (much of that consumption is by Americans)
• Americans make up about 5% of the world’s population, but we consume about 25% of the world’s energy!
• Continuing global poverty
– Over 3 billion people live on less than $2.50/day
• Environmental degradation
• Increasingly undemocratic societies

Video

• Write a general reflection on this question concerning social change, rationalization, globalization and what we saw in the video.
• In addition, think critically about and respond to the following questions:
– Whose interests are most served by Neo-Liberalism and globalization?
– Identify some ways our social institutions (such as politics, economics, education, media, etc.) benefit from and/or are negatively impacted by Neo-Liberal
Globalization. Also identify some ways our institutions contribute to globalization.