what is the rationale for bridewealth in a patrilineal society? This is a topic that many people are looking for. amritsang.org is a channel providing useful information about learning, life, digital marketing and online courses …. it will help you have an overview and solid multi-faceted knowledge . Today, amritsang.org would like to introduce to you rationalization. Following along are instructions in the video below:
If youve watched another of my videos called types of society. Youll recall recall that there are different kinds of society. And that they often change from one to another in this process.
We refer to as modernization and theres a video about that as well within the modernization process. There are other things going on one of which is this process of rationalization. So the first thing to understand is that rationalization is a process of change that societies go through its the process by which a society becomes more rational now thats sort of obvious right we could have figured that out just by understanding the english language to know what we really mean lets look at what we mean by rational and to do this lets look at its opposite non rational now before we go any further.
Its important to point out that by non rational. We do not mean irrational or nonsensical. Were not talking about behaviors that are random or dont seem to make any sense or unpredictable in both cases rational and non rational.
Were talking about a philosophical or methodological or strategic approach to problem solving every society has to accomplish certain tasks. And there are rational ways and non rational ways of approaching those tasks both at the societal or the individual level. So to start off in rational ways of thinking.
Were talking about calculation specifically. Were trying to calculate what is the most efficient way to do something by contrast in non rational approaches were more concerned with what is right than with what is efficient things like values and morals and traditions are more important than efficiency. We might talk about artistic values or aesthetic values.
Kind of same thing or morals religious values. So on and so forth. Theres a phrase you often see in economics.
That comes into other sciences. As well where a person is trying to maximize their own best self interest. And in fact.
Theres an entire school of thought within sociology called rational choice theory. The tries to understand how this motive. This motivation influences.
The social order and behavior right so here again. Were trying to calculate the most efficient way to maximize our own best self interest non rational on the other hand often focuses on altruism. How to help others or self sacrifice.
Whats best for society. Rational focuses on results. We might say for example that the ends.
Justify the means.
Whereas non rational focuses on process. Its not whether you win or lose. But how you play the game finally rational ways and approaches tend to be very impersonal or we might say businesslike or professional as kind of a euphemism whereas non rational approaches tend to be personal.
We associated them with things like our family ties or the loyalty we feel towards our friends now before we go on its important to point out that the way that ive presented this makes non rational seem beautiful and virtuous and good. Whereas rational seems manipulative and calculating and sort of cold. It can be that way and those are important critiques.
That weber max weber made about society. Ill get to that in a minute. But its also important to remember that there are traditions and beliefs and values morals.
Even that are very negative that hurt a lot of people racism and sexism for example are traditions that are damaging to society. And to individuals on the other hand. There are irrational ways of calculating things that are very important and have increased the standard of living for millions of people all over the world rational farming methods feed more people at a lower cost than some traditional methods do the last point to remember is that as social scientists.
Were not trying to judge one or the other is better or worse. Were simply trying to understand two different ways of accomplishing tasks. Within a society.
Both of these ways rational and non rational can be used to sort of measure society. Where its at in its progression and where its going the idea of rationalization is most associated with one of the founding sociologist max weber. In his view rationalization is a key aspect of the modernization process.
Its both a cause and effect right it happens as societies modernized and it also helps them modernize more quickly the good idea of how this or how weber saw this will kind of imagine a time line here rationalization began in factories with industrialization people moved into factories. The assembly line was developed production of goods became more rational and much more efficient and goods became cheaper as large companies and other large institutions developed they developed into bureaucracies. Which are rationalized organizations rationalized systems for accomplishing.
The work that large institutions do this affected government and even religions as they changed the way they operate. And whats most interesting here. Most concerning to weber was that this rationalization process doesnt stop there it eventually spills into all aspects of life and making our family and personal lives.
Much more rational than when they were traditionally for example historically someone might get married because of family tradition religious values. So on and so forth with modern marriages. Theres often a legal prenuptial agreement to protect the best self interest of all the parties involved weber was concerned because he felt that rationalization not only affects production.
But it also affects moral and social conditions. It affects the way people relate to one another in a society and affects the society. Generally to end lets give you a kind of a definition.
And this was difficult because one of the things.
Thats interesting is that rationalization is often portrayed and discussed very differently even in different 101. Textbooks. So i tried to bring all of the different ideas together into one sort of big definition.
Well go through these points. And weve already talked about many of them first of all again rationalization is the process by which society becomes more rational. Its marked by an increased ordering and organizing of life.
So a good example of this is the clock. I dont get up or go to work or come home. And i feel like it i follow the organizing principle of time and the clock.
Because its more rational rationalization includes formal rules. Regulations and procedures. There are strict ways that you accomplish.
Each task in your job throughout the day your relationship at work is impersonal. It is professional and for example you dont like the people you work with. But its efficient to get along with them.
Its the rational thing to do to do your job well again this idea of economic logic. Maximizing profit is increasingly applied to all aspects of human activity. The goal here is maximizing efficiency.
But it often happens without any consideration for subjective or individual concerns for example. We put a person on an assembly line because its the most efficient way to make a product and we dont worry about whether its boring or mind numbing or hard on their back to stand. There.
And do one thing. All day long right were focused on efficiency not comfort or individual development and growth or artistry. For example just another way of saying kind of the same thing methods of precise calculation and organization time hours worked so on and so forth the number of things produced come to increasingly dominate.
The entire social world. Weber refers to this is the iron cage. Itll be another video about that but again the main idea here is that theres this process by which society shifts from being non rational to more rational and this starts in industry and production but according to weber.
It slowly moves out to other aspects of society as the modernization process moves forward. So again. Rationalization is a process of change that shapes the way people think about and approach problem solving within their society.
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