Iron cage
Encyclopedia
Iron cage, a sociological
concept introduced by Max Weber
, refers to 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 1958 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:
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
.
Modern society was becoming characterized by its shift in the motivation of individual behaviors.http://google.com/search?q=cache:25ERckNMKK0J:www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Four/Presentations/Weber/Weber.ppt+Modern+society+characterized+by+its+shift+in+the+motivation+of+individual+behaviors&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us 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 bureaucracy
and capitalism
.
Weber’s characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy:
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.
; which is where a few officials are the political and economic power. Because bureaucracy is a form of organization superior to all others,http://google.com/search?q=cache:fhrAHR_BOaQJ:www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Weber/Presentation/Weber.ppt+bureaucracy+is+a+form+of+organization+superior+to+all+others&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us further bureaucratization and rationalization may be an inescapable fate.
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:
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. http://leeclarke.com/courses/intro/readings/bureucracy.html
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.http://google.com/search?q=cache:25ERckNMKK0J:www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Four/Presentations/Weber/Weber.ppt+weber+agricultural+bureaucracies+are+set+so+that+they+help+farmers&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
; 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.
It is important 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.
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
concept introduced by Max Weber
Max Weber
Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber was a German sociologist and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself...
, refers to the increased rationalization
Rationalization (sociology)
Rationalization is a term used in sociology to refer to a process in which an increasing number of social actions become based on considerations of teleological efficiency or calculation rather than on motivations derived from morality, emotion, custom, or tradition...
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
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
of social order
Social order
Social order is a concept used in sociology, history and other social sciences. It refers to a set of linked social structures, social institutions and social practices which conserve, maintain and enforce "normal" ways of relating and behaving....
as "the polar night of icy darkness".
The original German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
term is stahlhartes Gehäuse; this was translated into "iron cage", an expression made familiar to English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
speakers by Talcott Parsons
Talcott Parsons
Talcott Parsons was an American sociologist who served on the faculty of Harvard University from 1927 to 1973....
in his 1958 translation of Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is a book written by Max Weber, a German sociologist, economist, and politician. Begun as a series of essays, the original German text was composed in 1904 and 1905, and was translated into English for the first time by Talcott Parsons in 1930...
. This translation has recently been questioned by certain sociologists and interpreted instead as the "shell as hard as steel".
Weber wrote:
Weber became concerned with social actions
Social actions
In sociology, social action refers to an act which takes into account the actions and reactions of individuals .According to Max Weber, "an Action is 'social' if the acting individual takes account of the behavior of others and is thereby oriented in its course" .- Social action and Max Weber :The...
and the subjective meaning that humans attach to their actions and interaction within specific social contexts. He also believed in idealism
Idealism
In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
, 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
Authority
The word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...
in terms of bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
and rationalization
Rationalization (sociology)
Rationalization is a term used in sociology to refer to a process in which an increasing number of social actions become based on considerations of teleological efficiency or calculation rather than on motivations derived from morality, emotion, custom, or tradition...
.
Rationalization and bureaucracy
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.http://google.com/search?q=cache:25ERckNMKK0J:www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Four/Presentations/Weber/Weber.ppt+Modern+society+characterized+by+its+shift+in+the+motivation+of+individual+behaviors&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us Social actions were becoming based on efficiency instead of the old types of social actions, which were based on lineage or kinship
Kinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
. 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 bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
and capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
.
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 authorityAuthorityThe word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...
- Impersonality
- Written rules of conduct
- Promotion 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 oligarchyOligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...
; which is where a few officials are the political and economic power. Because bureaucracy is a form of organization superior to all others,http://google.com/search?q=cache:fhrAHR_BOaQJ:www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Weber/Presentation/Weber.ppt+bureaucracy+is+a+form+of+organization+superior+to+all+others&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us further bureaucratization and rationalization may be an inescapable fate.
Iron cage of bureaucracy
Because of these aforementioned reasons, there will be an evolution of an iron cage, which will be a technically ordered, rigid, dehumanized society.http://google.com/search?q=cache:25ERckNMKK0J:www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Four/Presentations/Weber/Weber.ppt+weber+evolution+of+an+iron+cage&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=us 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.http://google.com/search?q=cache:25ERckNMKK0J:www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Four/Presentations/Weber/Weber.ppt+weber+Bureaucracy+limits+individual+human+freedom+and+potential&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us It is the way of the institution, where we do not have a choice anymore. Once capitalismCapitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
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
Job (role)
A job is a regular activity performed in exchange for payment. A person usually begins a job by becoming an employee, volunteering, or starting a business. The duration of a job may range from an hour to a lifetime . If a person is trained for a certain type of job, they may have a profession...
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 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 autonomyAutonomyAutonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
; 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 http://google.com/search?q=cache:fhrAHR_BOaQJ:www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Weber/Presentation/Weber.ppt+max+weber+large+scale+organization&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us 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.
- SpecializationDepartmentalizationDepartmentalization refers to the process of grouping activities into departments.Division of labour creates specialists who need coordination. This coordination is facilitated by grouping specialists together in departments....
; 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
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
remains an issue. The goal of the bureaucracy has a single-minded pursuit that can ruin social order
Social order
Social order is a concept used in sociology, history and other social sciences. It refers to a set of linked social structures, social institutions and social practices which conserve, maintain and enforce "normal" ways of relating and behaving....
; what might be good for the organization might not be good for the society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
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
Depersonalization
Depersonalization is an anomaly of the mechanism by which an individual has self-awareness. It is a feeling of watching oneself act, while having no control over a situation. Sufferers feel they have changed, and the world has become less real, vague, dreamlike, or lacking in significance...
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
Depersonalization
Depersonalization is an anomaly of the mechanism by which an individual has self-awareness. It is a feeling of watching oneself act, while having no control over a situation. Sufferers feel they have changed, and the world has become less real, vague, dreamlike, or lacking in significance...
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
Industrial society
In sociology, industrial society refers to a society driven by the use of technology to enable mass production, supporting a large population with a high capacity for division of labour. Such a structure developed in the west in the period of time following the Industrial Revolution, and replaced...
-bureaucratic society, everything becomes part of the expanding machine, even people. http://leeclarke.com/courses/intro/readings/bureucracy.html
While bureaucracies are supposed to be based on rationalization
Rationalization
Rationalization may refer to:*Rationalization , the means of transition from a traditional society into a rationalized one*Rationalization , the process of constructing a logical justification for a decision that was originally arrived at through a different mental process*Rationalization , an...
, they act in the exact opposite manner. Political bureaucracies are established so that they protect our civil liberties
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
, but they violate them with their imposing rules. Development
Human development (humanity)
Human development in the scope of humanity, specifically international development, is an international and economic development paradigm that is about much more than the rise or fall of national incomes. People are the real wealth of nations...
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
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
are set to help the sick and elderly, but then they deny care based on specific criteria.http://google.com/search?q=cache:25ERckNMKK0J:www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Four/Presentations/Weber/Weber.ppt+weber+agricultural+bureaucracies+are+set+so+that+they+help+farmers&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
Debates regarding bureaucracies
Weber argues that bureaucracies have dominated modern society’s social structureSocial structure
Social structure is a term used in the social sciences to refer to patterned social arrangements in society that are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of the individuals. The usage of the term "social structure" has changed over time and may reflect the various levels of analysis...
; but we need these bureaucracies to help regulate our complex society
Complex society
In anthropology and archaeology, a complex society is a social formation that is otherwise described as a formative or developed state. The main criteria of complexity are:...
. Bureaucracies may have desirable intentions to some, but they tend to undermine human freedom and democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
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 note that according to Weber, society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
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.