Lecture Ten

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

Actions/Behavior

Social

Structure

Beliefs/Values (Culture)

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 most of your time?

Social Groups

Primary groups are characterized as small, face-to-face 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 ($)

The Meatrix

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 pre-packaged, 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.

Modern Meat

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?