The Rationalization of Society: Max Weber on Modern Bureaucracy

In this episode we are getting serious.  We are going to talk about Max Weber's theory of bureaucracy and we are going to find out why bureaucracy is one of the most important rationalizing forces in the rationalized society.  And please be careful, you might even learn something about the history of  Prussia and the German Empire. 

Summary of the previous episode and introduction to this one starts at minute 2.14.
Section 1 starts at minute 6.28.
Section 2 starts at minute 23.50.
Section 3 starts at minute 39.09.

Sources:

• Blau, Peter. M. (1956). Bureaucracy in Modern Society. New York: Random House. 
• Clark, Christopher (2007 [2006]). Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947. Penguin. 
• Cochrane, Glynn. (2018). Max Weber’s Vision for Bureaucracy A Casualty of World War I. Springer International Publishing. 
• Coser, Lewis A. (1971). Masters of Sociological Thought: Ideas in historical and social context. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
• Dorn, Walter L. (1931). The Prussian Bureaucracy in the Eighteenth Century. Political Science Quarterly, 46(3), 403–423.
• Kaesler, Dirk. (2017). Universal rationalization: Max Weber’s great narrative. Irish Journal of Sociology, 25(3), 315-323. 
• Kiser, Edgar, and Joachim Schneider. “Bureaucracy and Efficiency: An Analysis of Taxation in Early Modern Prussia.” American Sociological Review 59, no. 2 (1994): 187–204. 
• Mommsen, Wolfgang J. (2000). Max Weber’s “Grand Sociology”: The Origins and Composition of Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft: Soziologie. History and Theory, 39(3), 364–383. 
• Parsons, Talcott (1968 [1937]). The Structure of Social Action. Volume 2: Weber. New York: The Free Press. 
• Ritzer, George. (2015). The McDonaldization of Society. 8th Edition. SAGE Publications 
• Senigaglia, Cristiana. (2011). Max Weber and the parliamentary bureaucracy of his time, Parliaments, Estates & Representation, 31:1, 53-66, DOI: 10.1080/02606755.2011.560753 
• Mashal, M. (2024, March 16). India’s 2024 General Election: What to Know. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/16/world/asia/india-2024-election.html?searchResultPosition=14 
• Max Weber, The Theory of Economic and Social Organization, translated by A.M. Henderson and Talcott Parsons, New York, Oxford University Press 
• Weber, Max (2019): Economy & Society. A New Translation. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 
• Weber, Max. (2017). Methodology of Social Sciences. First edition. London: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. 
• Yoon, J., & Kumar, H. (2024, April 17). Why Do Elections in India Take So Long? The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/17/world/asia/india-elections-long-explainer.html