Rationalization (sociology)

In sociology, rationalization is the process whereby society rationalizes from a traditional to a modern state. This process involves the abandonment of subjective values in favor of more objective ones. While its aim is to create more calculably efficient processes of social development, it does so at the cost of dehumanizing society.

Related Topics:
Sociology - Society - Rationalizes - Traditional - Modern - Dehumanizing

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Max Weber began his studies of rationalization in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, in which he shows how the aims of certain Protestant denominations, particularly Calvinism, shifted towards the rational means of economic gain as a way of expressing that they had been blessed. The rational roots of this doctrine, he argued, soon grew incompatible with and larger than the religious, and so the latter were eventually discarded. Weber continues his investigation into this matter in later works, notably in his studies on bureaucracy and on the classifications of authority. In these works he alludes to an inevitable move towards rationalization.

Related Topics:
Max Weber - The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism - Protestant - Denomination - Calvinism - Bureaucracy - Authority

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