Unlike Marx and Durkheim, Weber rejects to utilize universal tendencies to generalize all social actions (Jones et al, 2011: 84). Instead, Weber believes that historical circumstances are distinctive and should be understood by comprehending the reasons behind the actions respectively (ibid: 85). Through out his sociology, Weber focuses mainly on the problem of rationality and rationalisation process throughout Western culture (Swidler, 1973: 35) . Modern Western society is becoming rationalised increasingly according to Weber (Ritzer, 1998: 42). After Weber, his thought is applied by Ritzer (1983) to the fast-food restaurant in American society, which is called McDonaldisation. Both two theories regard formal rationality as the foundation …show more content…
Accompanied with close practical connections with rationality, Rationalisation represents a process which the society happens to be rationalised (ibid: 36). For Weber, it typically represents the emergence of modern capitalism in the Occident. That is to say, striving for efficiency and calculability, instead of emotional or traditional motivation, has become routine of individuals only in modern industrial capitalist societies (Jones et al, 2011: 89). In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Weber, 2003), modern capitalism is viewed as the result of a rationalisation process. Weber pointed out that the goal of capitalism is always making profits as much as possible (Jones et al, 2011: 97). Weber also argues that rational capitalism is emerged from Puritan Protestantism, especially Calvinism (Hedoin, 2009: 177) with religious means. It is because of Calvinists’ attempt to maximize their productivity that capital is assembled. Furthermore, bureaucracy is viewed as the ultimate result of rationalisation (Ritzer, 1998: 42) because modern societies require systematic administrative organisations (Meyer, 2013: …show more content…
This precisely reveals that the fourth type, formal rationality contrasts sharply with substantive rationality. Formal rationality, without religious believes, involves means-ends calculation (Cockerham et al, 1993: 413), which means that people act by envisioning the ultimate goal and calculating the most efficient strategy to attain it. In addition, formal rationality legitimates this kind of calculation with reference to “universally applied rules, laws and regulations (Kalberg, 1980: 1158).” Different from other three types, formal rationality does not exist at all time or in all places, Weber believes that it is exclusively created in and appeared to dominate the modern industrial occidental society (Ritzer, 1998: 43). In Weber’s consideration, formal rationality is the basis of rationalised action in capitalism. Moreover, Bureaucracy is seen by Weber as the symbol and peak of formal rationalisation (Kelberg, 1980:
While growing up in Germany Max Weber witnessed the expansion of cities, the aristocracy being replaced by managerial elite, companies rapidly rising, and the industrial revolution. These changes in Germany, as well as the rest of the western world, pushed Weber to analyze the phenomenon, specifically to understand what makes capitalism in the west different and how capitalism was established. In The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism, Weber explains that capitalism is all about profit and what creates the variance between capitalism in the west and the rest of the world is rationalization, “the process in which social institutions and social interaction become increasingly governed by systematic, methodical procedures and rules”
Rationality is this idea by Weber that it is potentially what created capitalism. Formal rationality is the set of pre-determined criteria that we use to make decisions and conduct activities. He basically says that as humans, we set goals for ourselves and we take whatever steps necessary to reach those goals. These steps though, have to be rational i.e. they are based off of our past experiences, logic or even science. Weber best describes this through the Protestant Ethic, in which he speaks of traditional capitalism, and rational capitalism.
Weber, on the other hand, tried to look at the macro-sociological phenomenon in his explanation. Weber felt that there is just more than one explanation for the causes of change. Marx’s perspective was not based on the conflict of ideas, but rather on the conflict of classes. This conflict is the result of a new mode of production. According to Marx, history would consist of epochs of modes of production.
Ritzer’s scholarly work has been heavily influenced by German sociologist Max Weber, who feared that bureaucracy would spread until society became a seamless web of rationalized institutions from which there would be no escape. At the time when Weber wrote, in the early twentieth century, totalitarianism was the biggest threat to individual freedom. In the 1980s, Ritzer thought to apply Weber’s theories about rational systems to a very different threat: the proliferation of fast-food chains.
According to Marx, the 'capitalist mode of production' is a product of the 'industrial revolution' and the division of labor coming from it. By virtue of this division,...
The McDonaldization of Society The McDonaldization of society may sound somewhat misleading but the term actually refers to the rationalization of society. The use of the word "McDonaldization" just simply indicates that the fast food restaurant is one of many great examples of rationality. Ritzer discusses five dimensions that characterize rationality or a rationalized society: efficiency, predictability, calculability, the use and preference of non-human technology, and the control over uncertainty. The five characteristics can be noticed in various aspects of society which exemplifies the extent that rationality affects our society and societies worldwide. In this paper I will summarize Ritzer's discussion of these five characteristics and give possible examples of each dimension.
...hown to be a fundamental socioeconomic transformation. My paper has shown many aspects of the market society, by using a number of theorists’ concepts. I focused on the characteristics of a market society, as well as why this transformation from traditional society was so significant. I also discussed the changes that have taken place in the workplace and the impact on the workers, which these material conditions became apparent throughout time. Lastly, I explained Weber’s idea of “economic rationality” and the worldview of people in a market society, to show how workers rationalized the work they put into the production and distribution of material goods. Generally, this paper’s purpose was to show how the market society has established itself over time, and how both material and ideological conditions interacted and changed the ways we view market society today.
Bendix, Richard. "Aspects of Economic Rationality in the West." Max Weber. New York: Anchor Books, 1962, pp. 49-79
Max Weber’s work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is arguably one of the most important works in all of sociology and social theory, both classical and modern. In the decades since its inception, this work has gone on to influence generations of social scientists with its analysis of the effect of Protestantism on the development of modern industrial capitalism. This work, examining such broad topics as religion, economics, and history, is not only an interesting and insightful look into the history of the development of capitalism, but a major work in laying a foundation for future works of social theory.
My paper talks about the riveting account of human nature and modern society that Karl Marx gives us, in comparison Max Weber and Emile Durkheim. Meanwhile, Durkheim believes that organic solidarity and division of labour are modernity’s main features. Weber looks at rationalization and disenchantment, and Marx offers an account aimed centered on class struggle and social instability.
Weber’s theory of rationalization is the process of replacing traditional and emotional thought with reason and practicality. In past time, society labeled events that couldn’t be explained or find an answer for as supernatural. Rationalization revolves around the question of why? Not a question of how and finding the meaning of life. For example with this concept Weber was referring to an on going process in which social interaction and institutions become increasingly governed by methodical procedures. Weber uses this theory to explain social order. Formal rationality is based on rules and laws. Those rules and laws restrict persons of individuality and force them to conform. This process of rationalization introduces another theory of Weber’s the “iron cage”. The iron cage is how Weber explains the perpetuation of social order.
Lynn Harsh (Nov. 2002). ‘Capitalism – A Deal with the Devil?’. Retrieved on Mar. 23 from:
Humans act on subjective meaning and world views of humans determine their behavior. Each individual’s behavior slowly becomes patterned and regulated. Each individual’s actions altogether create a collective institution for society. The iron cage, therefore, is an unintended result of the growing rationalist thinking in western capitalist societies. Weber uses the iron cage metaphor to explain social order and society. As society developed, rationalist and efficient thinking rose and this resulted in the growth of bureaucracies. A bureaucracy is designed as the most dominant form of social organization based on efficiency, rationalism, and control. In a bureaucracy, there is a set of rules which favors rational principles directed towards a goal. The bureaucracy gave rise to the iron cage which is a metaphor for people in western capitalist societies who are trapped within a dogma of efficiency and practicality. This type of thinking limits individual human freedom and potential because they way the institution is built, it doesn’t allow humans to have a...
Once capitalism came about, it was like a machine that you were being pulled into without an alternative option. Currently, whether we agree or disagree, for example if you want to survive you need to have a job and you need to make money. Weber believed that social actions were becoming based on efficiency instead of the old types of social actions, which were based on lineage or kinship. Behavior had become dominated by goal-oriented rationality and less by tradition and values. According to Web...
According to Max Weber religion is an institution that is based on cultural needs of man and has added capacity to human development and human life. In his book “Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism” Weber argues that the values of the protestant institution and its ethics played an important role in the economy of Western countries. His study focused on how a religious sect can influence the economic behavior of its attendants. The main concern of Weber was to know until what extension the religious conceptions of the world of existence have an impact on the economic behavior of Western societies. The strongest influences according to Weber on the development of capitalism was the Calvinist sect of Protestant religion. Weber examines