Max Weber- The Bureaucratization and Rationalization of Modern Society
Bureaucracy. This word can often be
confusing and hard to understand. I have found myself struggling to
understand the concept of Bureaucratization and Rationalization in
general and from Max Weber's point of view. What I get out of it is
that you need rationalization to get a bureaucratization and with a
bureaucratization comes authority.
Rationalization is or can be broken down into six characteristics:
Rationalization is or can be broken down into six characteristics:
- Calculability
- Efficiency
- Predictability
- Replacement of human technology with nonhuman technology.
- Control
- Irrational ConsequencesRationalization is the process in which brings out bureaucracy.
Bureaucracy according to Max
Weber represents the pure ideal-type of legal-rational authority.
Bureaucracy is organized on a hierarchical and rational basis. In
other words a bureaucracy has a set of rules and regulation that is
followed hoping for a good turn out. This maybe stated with a goal or
certain outcome in mind. A bureaucracy is made up of a ladder type of
environment-meaning there is a chain of commands and or roles and
positions that are in order of power or authority.
Authority is a type of
power-legitimate domination. Weber breaks it down into three types:
- Rational (law)
- Traditional (passed down from generation to generation)
- Charismatic
Overall bureaucracy is still
confusing but I think that Weber does a great job of breaking things
down and concluding what bureaucracy is. Bureaucracy is common and is
something that we run into a lot throughout our life time and may not
even know it.
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This image shows bureaucracy
because it shows the chain of commands in the military. I pick this
image because it shows how a bureaucracy works and how there are
different roles inside a bureaucracy type of environment.
I liked how you described bureaucracy. I also had a hard time understanding it. Describing bureaucracy as rules being set up for hopefully the greater good makes sense to me. It throws the rationalization part in to make up a good bureaucracy. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteI really liked the image you used. I like to put these theories into real life scenarios and I think this is a great visual to what Weber tries to explain. Also, breaking down rationalization makes it a lot easier for people to grasp.
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