nov 3 rd sign in hand in homework #4 lecture 9: social structure, organizations, and rationalization...
TRANSCRIPT
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Nov 3rd 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-Steer-
Pollan31mar02.htm
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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.
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Lecture Nine
Social Structure: Shaping the context of social interaction
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Context of Social Interaction
Social Structure: Organized patterns of social relationships and social institutions
Social Structure both reflects and reproduces our behavior and culture
Actions/Behavior
Social
Structure
Beliefs/Values (Culture)
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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
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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”
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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
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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
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Office Space
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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
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What did you consume today?
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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
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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
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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."
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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?”
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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
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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?
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“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
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Threads
1. What changed in the organization of textile production?
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
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How did the apparel industry become rationalized? Efficiency
Deskilling (pg 30) & Section work Quantification
SAM’s (pg 31) Predictability
Standardized clothing Control
Skill now equals speed, not craft
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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
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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)