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

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.

Lecture Nine

Social Structure: Shaping the context of social interaction

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)

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

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”

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

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

Office Space

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

What did you consume today?

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

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

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."

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?”

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

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?

“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

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

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

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

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)