Download Recap: Lecture Four

Lecture Nine
Social Structure: Shaping the context of
social interaction
Social Structure: What provides the
context of our lives?

The social structure of a society – how
society is organized – shapes how we are
connected to others

We can think about social structure as the
context of our social interactions

This context is created through patterns of
behavior and the roles we occupy in social
institutions such as family and the economy
Context of Social Interaction

Social Structure both
reflects and
reproduces our
behavior and culture
Beliefs/Values
(Culture)
Actions/
Behavior
Social
Structure
Changing Social Structure = Changing
Social Life

As society becomes industrialized and
globalized (and therefore organized more
rationally) our social lives shift from being
lived mostly in primary groups to
secondary groups

Think back over your week, did you spend
more time?
Social Groups

Primary groups are characterized as small, face-toface and intimate groups with an enduring sense of
commitment.


Social relations in these groups are often based on emotion
and tradition
Secondary groups are characterized as large and
impersonal groups where we develop short
relationships

Social relations in these groups are often based on formal
rules and rational thinking
Globalization and Social Life

In the post-industrial period of globalization we are
much more interdependent than ever before. Most
of our daily requirements – food, work, clothing, etc
– are supplied by people we have never met
working in organizations we know little about

This requires organizations (secondary groups) that can
coordinate the resources and activities needed to keep
society and our daily lives running smoothly

How these organizations are organized greatly affects how
we live our lives and interact with those around us
The Modern Organization: Rationally
Organized

Most of the organizations we depend on
today – government, corporations, schools,
etc - are organized rationally


Sociologists call these types of organizations
“bureaucracies”
Rationalization is the process by which
thought and action are no longer rooted in
emotion, tradition, but become rooted in
‘value-rational’ thought and action
Thinking Rationally

Rationalization is both a way of thinking and a way
of organizing and coordinating human activities and
the goods they produce

To think and act rationally is to find the most efficient
means to achieve a goal.

What this means is that human action is organized to find
the quickest, easiest, and most cost effective methods to
achieve the desired outcomes – even if it is at the expense
of our values, traditions, and social & environmental
relationships.
Example: The Cow
Hindus – symbol of
everything alive
McDonald’s – means to an
end ($)
Consuming the Modern Pig
http://blog.ted.com/2010/09/20/howpig-parts-make-the-world-turnchristien-meindertsma-on-ted-com/
Beyond Rationality?

Sociologist George Ritzer argues that we
have moved to an even great level of
rationality

“McDonaldization”: the “process by which the
principles of the fast food restaurant are
coming to dominate more and more sectors
of society”
Efficiency

Efficiency is the choosing the fastest means to an
end, with the least amount of cost or effort

The idea of efficiency is specific to the interests of
the industry or business, but is typically advertised
as a benefit to the customer


Examples: the drive-up window, self-serve gasoline, ATM's,
The customer often ends up doing the work that
previously was done for them.

We end up spending more time, being forced to learn new
technologies, remember more numbers, and often pay
higher prices
Quantification & Calculation

Quantification “involves an emphasis on
things that can be calculated, counted,
quantified. Quantification refers to a tendency
to emphasize quantity rather than quality.
This leads to a sense that quality is equal to
certain, usually (but not always) large
quantities of things."

Examples of this element include: the "Big Mac,"
the Whopper," "Big Gulp," Wendy's "Biggie Meals"
Predictability

Predictability refers to the attempt to
structure our environment so that surprise
and difference do not encroach upon our
sensibilities. Rational people need to know
what to expect

They want to be sure that the fun, satisfaction,
taste, and benefits they received last week in
Cincinnati will be repeated next week in San
Diego. A Big Mac is a Big Mac is a Big Mac
Non-human Technology

Non-human Technology: Everything is prepackaged, pre-measured, automatically controlled.
The human employee is not required to think, just
follow the instructions and push a button now and
then


"The next step in this development is to have the customer
do the scanning,..."
What this means is that the skills and capabilities of
the human actor are quickly becoming things of the
past.

Who we are and how we interact is becoming defined by
our dependence upon and subordination to the machine
“Iron Cage of Rationality”

Max Weber, who studied rational systems, feared
that a rationally organized society can become a
cage in which we are trapped and our basic
humanity denied


Society would become a seamless web of rationalization
from which there would be no escape
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
Disenchantment of the World

McDonaldization at large works to eliminate genuine
human interaction, because interactions are
unpredictable and waste time



When you are at Target or Starbucks does the person
helping you really mean it when they ask “How are you
today?”
And do you give a genuine answer?
As our interactions are structured by rational
environments, there is a break down in genuine and
spontaneous human interaction
McDonaldization in Our Daily Lives

Look at the following and identify the 4 main
principles of McDonaldization:



Example 1: College/Higher Education
Example 2: Hollywood Films
What are some of the irrationalities that
emerge from this way of organizing activities?
Rationality can lead to Irrationality

Ritzer argues that extreme rationality or
McDonaldization 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." –
George Ritzer
Irrationality of Fast Food

The rational organization of the Fast Food provides many
conveniences today. Fast food is cheap, fast, and easy.

However, it also produces many irrationalities in our society:
 The food we eat is often less nourishing, loaded with stabilizers
and flavor enhancers, fats, salt and sugar. This contributes to the
health problems of our society, such a skyrocketing rates of
diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
 The packaging used in fast food industry pollutes the
environment.
 Microwavable foods and fast-food restaurants allow us to eat
what we want, when we want it. The ritual of cooking, eating
together, and sharing is fading from the American family.
The Rational Organization of Our Daily
Lives

As we grow more interdependent with
globalization, we can examine the ways in
which most of the organizations that play a
central role in our daily lives are becoming
McDonaldized and the impacts this has on
our social connections and social
relationships with others

As we grow more organizationally connected
are we becoming less socially connected?