SOCI 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Canada Revenue Agency, Flight Attendant, Mcdonaldization

• School: UBC
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOCI 102
• Professor: Catherine Corrigall- Brown

Document Summary

Take a minute to think about what is a rational" system. Major change in modern society: rationalization: prior to the enlightenment (pre-1700, an enchanted world (before the enlightenment) Invested with magical powers and other worldly forces: explanation for events, angry gods or provoked spirits , solutions to gods, performing rituals to gods. Enlightenment lead to the erosion of religious authority. Turn to new ideas of science, logic, reasoning, and evident to make decisions. The rise of rationalization: what is rationality, predictability- repetition, reliability, calculability- priority to counted or quanti ed, e ciency- best means to a given end, control- enhanced certainty of outcomes. In particular rationality is a way of solving problems, a focus on the optimal means toward an end. The process of rationalization changed many aspects of society. The positives sides of rationalization: potentially more e cient, predictable, controllable, and calculable way of getting getting done. The process of disenchantment is also a process of disillusionment.