Max Weber
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In sociology, the iron cage is a term coined by Max Weber
for the increased rationalization inherent in social life, particularly in
Western capitalist societies. The "iron cage" thus traps individuals
in systems based purely on teleological efficiency, rational calculation and
control. Weber also described the bureaucratization of social order as
"the polar night of icy darkness".
The original German term is stahlhartes Gehäuse; this was
translated into "iron cage", an expression made familiar to English
language speakers by Talcott Parsons in his 1930 translation of Weber's The
Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. This translation has recently
been questioned by certain sociologists and interpreted instead as the "shell
as hard as steel".
Weber wrote:
“ In
Baxter’s view the care for external goods should only lie on the shoulders of
the 'saint like a light cloak, which can be thrown aside at any moment.' But
fate decreed that the cloak should become an iron cage."
Weber became concerned with social actions and the
subjective meaning that humans attach to their actions and interaction within
specific social contexts. He also believed in idealism, which is the belief
that we only know things because of the meanings that we apply to them. This
led to his interest in power and authority in terms of bureaucracy and
rationalization.
Secularization and religion
Weber states, “the course of development involves… the
bringing in of calculation into the traditional brotherhood, displacing the old
religious relationship.”
Modern society was becoming characterized by its shift in
the motivation of individual behaviors. 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 Weber, the shift from the old
form of mobility in terms of kinship to a new form in terms of a strict set of
rules was a direct result of growth in accumulation of capital, i.e.
capitalism.
Effects of bureaucracies
Positive contributions
Bureaucracies were distinct from the former feudal system
where people were promoted through favoritism and bribes because now there was
a set of rules that are clearly defined; there was promotion through seniority
and disciplinary control. Weber believes that this influenced modern society
and how we operate today, especially politically.
Weber’s characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy:
- Hierarchy of command
- Impersonality
- Written rules of conduct
- Advancement based on achievement
- Specialized division of labor
- Efficiency
Weber believed that bureaucracies are goal-oriented
organizations that are based on rational principles that are used to efficiently
reach their goals. However, there are constraints within this bureaucratic
system.
Negative effects of bureaucracies
Bureaucracies concentrate large amounts of power in a small
number of people and are generally unregulated. Weber believed that those who
control these organizations control the quality of our lives as well.
Bureaucracies tend to generate oligarchy; which is where a few officials are
the political and economic power. Because bureaucracy is a form of organization
superior to all others, further bureaucratization and rationalization may be an
inescapable fate.
Iron cage of bureaucracy
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Because of these aforementioned reasons, there will be an
evolution of an iron cage, which will be a technically ordered, rigid,
dehumanized society. The iron cage is the one set of rules and laws that we are
all subjected and must adhere to. Bureaucracy puts us in an iron cage, which
limits individual human freedom and potential instead of a “technological
utopia” that should set us free. It is the way of the institution, where we do
not have a choice anymore. 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, if you want to survive you need to have a job and
you need to make money.
Laws of bureaucracies:
- The official is subject to authority only with respect to their official obligation
- Organized in a clearly defined hierarchy of offices
- Each office has a clearly defined sphere of competence
- The official has a free contractual relationship; free selection
- Officials are selected through technical qualification
- The official is paid by fixed salaries
- The office is the primary occupation of the official
- Promotion is based on an achievement which is granted by the judgment of superiors
- The official works entirely separated from ownership of the means of administration
- The official is subject to strict and systematic discipline within the office
Costs of bureaucracies
“Rational calculation . . . reduces every worker to a cog in
this bureaucratic machine and, seeing himself in this light, he will merely ask
how to transform himself… to a bigger cog… The passion for bureaucratization at
this meeting drives us to despair.”
- Loss of individuality; labor is now being sold to someone who is in control, instead of individuals being artisans and craftsmen and benefiting from their own labor.
- Loss of autonomy; others are dictating what an individual’s services are worth.
- Individuals develop an obsession with moving on to bigger and better positions, but someone else will always be determining the value of our achievements.
- Lack of individual freedom; individuals can no longer engage in a society unless they belong to a large scale organization where they are given specific tasks in return for giving up their personal desires to conform to the bureaucracy’s goals and are now following legal authority.
- Specialization; with specialization, society becomes more interdependent and has a less common purpose. There is a loss in the sense of community because the purpose of bureaucracies is to get the job done efficiently.
Bureaucratic hierarchies can control resources in pursuit of
their own personal interests, which impacts society’s lives greatly and society
has no control over this. It also affects society’s political order and
governments because bureaucracies were built to regulate these organizations,
but corruption remains an issue. The goal of the bureaucracy has a
single-minded pursuit that can ruin
social order; what might be good for the organization might not be good for the
society as a whole, which can later harm the bureaucracy’s future. Formal rationalization
in bureaucracy has its problems as well. There are issues of control, depersonalization
and increasing domination. Once the bureaucracy is created, the control is
indestructible. There is only one set of rules and procedures, which reduces
everyone to the same level. Depersonalization occurs because individual
situations are not accounted for. Most
importantly, the bureaucracies will become more dominating over time unless
they are stopped. In an advanced industrial-bureaucratic society, everything
becomes part of the expanding machine, even people.
While bureaucracies are supposed to be based on
rationalization, they act in the exact opposite manner. Political bureaucracies
are established so that they protect our civil liberties, but they violate them
with their imposing rules. Development and agricultural bureaucracies are set
so that they help farmers, but put them out of business due to market
competition that the bureaucracies contribute to. Service bureaucracies like
health care are set to help the sick and elderly, but then they deny care based
on specific criteria.
Debates regarding bureaucracies
Weber argues that bureaucracies have dominated modern
society’s social structure; but we need these bureaucracies to help regulate
our complex society. Bureaucracies may have desirable intentions to some, but
they tend to undermine human freedom and democracy in the long run.
“Rationalization destroyed the authority of magical powers,
but it also brought into being the machine-like regulation of bureaucracy,
which ultimately challenges all systems of belief.”
It is important to note that according to Weber, society
sets up these bureaucratic systems, and it is up to society to change them.
Weber argues that it is very difficult to change or break these bureaucracies,
but if they are indeed socially constructed, then society should be able to
intervene and shift the system.
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