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 Change

and organization are topics that are of interest to us all, I would suppose.
 Change is accompanied by thoughts and experiences of the new.  Organization relates to how we manage our social relations, and moreso how effective we are at achieving desired goals.
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 Change

and organization are everyday concerns and are addressed by sociologists who present explanations and descriptions from perspectives with which we can relate.

 However,

never forget to try to understand:

the perspectives of sociologists
 and the meanings they give to concepts – these may not represent the commonly held meanings that you utilize in everyday interaction.


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 Social

change, for many, is most identified in historical analyzes of the transitions from small primitive societies to larger social formations comprising rural, urban, suburban, peri-urban groupings.
 Modernization and industrialization are key concepts in sociological understanding and explanations of social change.
 This is especially in light of the fact that the emergence and identification of experiences associated with these concepts influenced the birth of sociology.
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 In

the 20th century and now in the 21st century, we can identify social change with the emergence of the technology age and the impact it has had on: the production and distribution of material goods;  Communication;
 social organization;
 Social interaction.


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

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 As

societies change, we experience cultural shifts, identified in: material culture (tangibles such as the clothes we wear)
 and non-material culture (intangibles such as norms and values).


 We

also see changes in society’s:

structures
 institutional arrangements
 and systemic relations.


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 Some

of the most interesting and inherent features of social change characterized by growth in population and its resultant needs are: Changes in primary and secondary group relations;  Cultural adaptations and innovations to accommodate growing complexities and demands. 

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

Let us briefly discuss Durkheim’s propositions in regard to primitive societies, and the mechanical solidarity that holds society together.



Durkheim argues that in primitive societies, there is little differentiation in roles, which allows everyone:





to live basically similar lives; and hold similar understandings and perspectives of social reality.
For example: everyone works in farming; and all share the same religion.
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 In

smaller societies:

individuals live in closer proximity to each other;  and this facilitates the formation and maintenance of relationships that have tighter bonds and bear greater intimacy.


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 In

Jamaica when people do things that show great disregard for social values it is said that ‘they have no conscience’.

 Well,

for Durkheim, in primitive societies:

everybody basically shared the same values;
 and so had a shared conscience or what he called the ‘collective conscience’.


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 The

‘collective conscience’ was a key feature of societies held together by ‘mechanical solidarity’ – people getting along automatically based on shared values and norms.  Mechanical solidarity spoke to all individuals working together as one – all sharing a common purpose and so all working to achieve the same goals.

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 As

populations grow, a wider variety of groups emerge that are:
 physically separated from each other;
 and develop different cultural perspectives and experiences owing to variations in: priorities and needs;
 and access to cultural, socio-political and economic capital.


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 There

are also changes in relation to primary and secondary group relationships:
In small societies, even though there exists secondary and primary group relations, all relationships can still be considered personal in that roles are often associated with the persona of those who hold them.
 In more complex societies, such as the ones in which we all live, roles are held by multiple individual ‘personas’, such as that of ‘student in
Introduction to Sociology’.


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 You

as holders of the role ‘student’ are guided by institutional norms, such as those relating to plagiarism and netiquette.
 Each of the class (e-Tutor and student) groups, such as ours, has a different rhythm and routine to how course activities are conducted. 15

 There

is no ‘collective conscience’ among students in the course.
 Hence students in different groups experience different group norms.
 Additionally, some of you may never have close bonds with classmates as you have families, friends, church groups, co-workers and other class groups that you may bond with more than your classmates in
Introduction to Sociology.

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 For

the most part, sociologists argue that in larger more complex societies, the societal demands require different approaches (from those used in small, traditional societies) to social organization if things are to run smoothly.

 Durkheim’s

focus lies in:

the means in which a society is held together;
 and how cultural adaptations in social organization meet different and changing needs.


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 In

larger complex societies we engage in what Durkheim refers to as the ‘Division of
Labour’.
 The division of labour comprises specialization in tasks assigned to personnel within the work setting.
 The division of labour is said to be necessary to ensure greater levels of efficiency in meeting productivity and other needs.

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 The

division of labour has led to increasing interdependency among people.

 For

example, we in Introduction to Sociology need the technical staff of the UWIOC to facilitate our classes by building and maintaining the Learning Exchange which houses the Course Page.

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EXAMPLES of Division of Labour
 We need the staff of the ‘lunch shop’ because we may not have time to cook lunch due to time constraints.
 We need the apparel manufacturer as we may not have the time or simply are incapable of making our own clothes.
 If you are a parent, your children need you to care and provide for them.
 If you work in the oil and gas industry, you are part of the team that allows us to move around in our cars by producing the gas.
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 Durkheim

believes that through the division of labour we are forced to rely on each other
– we are interdependent.
 “Organic Solidarity” is that social order that results from interdependence of not just people but our social institutions and systems.  The family relies on the school to educate children – the interdependence of social institutions. 21

 Durkheim

also spoke of ‘anomie’ or normlessness.  Anomie arises within complex societies when: people become so personally isolated from each other  that the interdependence of the economic and other spheres does not serve to facilitate (for some individuals), a sense of belonging within any particular social group.


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

Note: Value consensus is a key feature of functionalist thought and so whether in mechanical or organic solidarity, the importance of a consensus on values is critical to social order.



A consensus on values gives a sense of purpose and helps a people to forge a shared identity.



When we hear Americans speak of ‘Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness’ they are articulating national values that have guided the development of their nation, and used to justify the behavioural norms that we all see as their brand of democracy and capitalism.
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 One

can easily see from the presentations of functionalists that they believe that social order and equilibrium are states that societies ‘naturally’ tend towards.

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 Hence,

for them, there are self adjusting mechanisms within societies that facilitate: transformations in social organization to meet changing needs;
 and these are required for the maintenance and achievement of equilibrium.


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 For

example, when there is technological advancement, schools may introduce taught courses to facilitate socialization into the changes in material culture and even norms.
 We now speak of netiquette because we interact on-line – before we only had to concern ourselves with old fashioned etiquette.  The school in this example, forms part of society’s self-adjusting mechanism to respond to social change and facilitate continued social order.
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 The

conflict theoretical paradigm presents similar arguments to that presented by functionalists as it relates to equilibrium.
 Conflict theorists argue that the ‘economic’ mode of production determines all other social relations.
 Marx’s approach to explaining social change is dubbed by many as ‘historical materialism’. 27

 For

Marx, social organization and the associated value and belief systems adjust to meet changing societal needs.

 Marx

gives focus to economic modes of organization as the root from which all other societal elements grow

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 We

are interested here in the underlying assumptions that:
There are embedded mechanisms within society’s culture and organization that facilitate compatible shifts in the non-economic societal elements to match changes in the economic element.  These mechanisms not only reinforce and facilitate continuity of a particular way of life, but also lend it legitimacy (make it acceptable).


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 Marx

argued that during different stages of history, the economic mode of production changed and so too did all other elements of social organization.
 With slave labour, there was one set of social relations – slave and master.
 Under feudalism there was another set of relations – feudal lord and tenants/serfs.
 Now in modern capitalism, there is still yet another form of social relation.
 Now we speak of social classes; and we are said to ‘earn’ our positions in social classes.
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 Whilst

capitalism is a system of inequality, it is built on an ideology that we are:
‘given opportunities’ to determine our social class, particularly as adults;
 and are not locked into the social class of our parents as in slavery and feudalism.


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 In

modern capitalism, it is argued that we all earn our position.

 However,

Marx believed that capitalist society is organized for us to remain in the social positions of our parents.

 We

are fooled to believe that we experience mobility by earning high positions in companies to which we are employed.
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 However,

the group of persons who own the means of production and have the power in society basically remain unchanged.

 It

does not matter how much money we earn or how lucrative our professions are – once we do not own the means of production, we are proletariat and are being exploited by the powerful, bourgeoisie.

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 Marx

felt that there were inherent features of capitalism that:


led to little ‘real’ social mobility




and what social mobility was thought to be experienced was usually owing to a ‘false consciousness’ The ‘false consciousness’ does not allow persons to recognize their true class relations (we will further address this in other Units when we discuss Conflict Theory in more detail).

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 However,

we must note that for Marx, it is the ‘conflict’ between unequal economic groupings that drives change.



As one system of inequality is brought down, it is replaced by a usually more sophisticated one with its own justifications for inequality.

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 Among

the major sociological theorists,
Weber is most credited with directly addressing the issue of bureaucracy and modern organizations.

 Weber


not only to meet –





felt that bureaucracies arose:

changing needs owing to population growth, advances in thought and methods of production,

but encompassing these – changes in societal culture. 36

increasing emphasis on rational action ‘cultural ideas’ and ‘social and economic organization’ (as in bureaucracies) mutually impact each other.
 Weber gives great focus to issues such as:
 With

impersonality
 and the existence of rules within bureaucracies.


 These

are said to be necessities for effective functioning in modern societies.
 However, the cultural implications of Weber’s arguments are not to be lost.
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 It

is in identifying and understanding the symbiotic relationship between culture, and social and economic organization that we see the philosophical interconnections between the arguments of Weber and those of functionalists such as Durkheim and conflict theorists such as Marx.

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 For

Weber, bureaucracies are to constitute abstract and concrete operational systems that direct the actions of workers and management.  Like ‘social facts’, bureaucracies have an existence independent of individual human actors. Please note that what is presented here gives primary attention to Weber’s classification of bureaucracy as an ideal type. 39

 Weber

argues impersonality to be a key feature of bureaucratic function, as individual actors (workers) are to interact with ‘occupational roles’ as roles that exist and are identifiable independent of the persona of any individual actor (worker).
 Occupational roles are to be solely characterized by the stipulated duties and framework for conduct prescribed in the organization’s operational rules and procedures. 40

 If

you are a customer service agent – you are to only communicate information as instructed or allowed.  You are to leave your personal views for the
‘personal’ sphere where you interact with friends and family.
 If friends and family are clients, they are to receive the service required by the organization and not receive any personalized attention.
 As I said before, what we are speaking about here is
Weber’s ideal type.
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 The

distancing of the persona of the individual human actor from occupational roles is entrenched and cemented in: the frame for daily interaction within the organizational body;
 the rules for entrance and exit.


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 In

demanding certification and training to fill occupational specialized functions (job positions) as is generally the case in bureaucracies, the cultural norm that is presented demonstrates: a separation of the individual persona from a job role;  and rather a linking of certification, representative of skills set, with compatible job role/function. 

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Beauracratic Organization - the exclusion of personal considerations in Personnel
Selection and Meeting Job functions

Technical Skills and
Competencies
Organizational Roles and
Responsibilities

Individual
Persona

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 Additionally,

the impersonality in regard to relations with peers is culturally prescribed;
 and enforced through expectations in regard to respecting and responding to job titles and prescribed levels of authority rather than persona. 

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If you should observe the proceedings of
Congress in the United States, you will see that regardless of how persons openly criticize the
President, once inside the houses of government, they are expected to use the address ‘Mr.
President’ and are obligated to show respect.
 Demonstrations of disrespect are openly sanctioned, even by the peers who will otherwise strongly criticize the President as well.  Think about your own personal experiences – are there persons in your organization to whom you show respect, solely on the basis of the position they hold?


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 Arguably,

impersonality is also demonstrated in the interaction with the outputs of work.
 End products though they may be associated with the efforts of individual workers, are in the end viewed as the output of the company, and more importantly, the property of the company.

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 Marx

termed these elements of impersonality as ‘alienation’.

 Alienation

is a negative feature of capitalism and part of the system that facilitates the
‘false consciousness’ which prevents individuals from identifying common interests. 48

 Even

though Weber identifies negatives associated with ‘impersonality’ within bureaucracies, he argues that it is necessary if such organizations are to achieve
‘culturally’ defined goals.

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

Another important element of bureaucracy is that of authority. 50

 Authority

is tangibly demonstrated in the actions of holders and the reactions from those who are subject to such authority.

 However,

it is the significance/level of importance which is attached to the positions we as individuals occupy within the organization’s hierarchy that gives life and strength to the authority.

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 Authority

is a mechanism for ensuring that beauracracies achieve goals within stipulated guidelines.  Authority

involves ascribing to some positions/roles (held by persons) responsibility and power to: manage people and processes;
 and also impose sanctions.


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 Authority

is also representative of the hierarchy of values within an organization.

 By

ascribing to the supervisor authority over line staff, there is demonstration of: the higher value associated with roles representative of social organization and its regulation (supervisory roles)
 above individual functional units upon which such regulation is imposed.


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For example, in a bread factory:
 The supervisor organizes and regulates all activities in relation to making the bread.
 Each individual worker meets only one part of the functions needed to produce the bread.  The supervisor’s work is less routinized, and is more cognitively engaging in that he/she is in charge of maintaining the micro-system of bread production, and quite importantly, its equilibrium. 54

 Secondary

and tertiary socialization, and specifically role preparation through training, are important aspects of preparing individuals for the impersonality and universalistic standards experienced within bureaucracies.  Sociologists,

generally argue that there are lower levels of closeness in bonds between individuals within secondary groups versus primary groups. For example, you are closer to your family than your e-Tutor.
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

Additionally, there is also a more transitory attachment to the secondary roles for which we are prepared.



Think of it - owing to the social and argued biological linkages within primary groups, we see the role of son, daughter, mother, father as a natural part of who we are.



On the other hand, we see the roles of secretary, manager, accountant, as parts of ourselves that are earned and not permanent as they can change whenever we change jobs.
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 These

roles are earned based on our possession of the requisite skills.

 These

requisite skills are learnt within structured settings (usually schools).

 Certification

is the symbol which demonstrates that we possess the expected competencies associated with a particular training and skill.
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 Individuals

generally tend to have less difficulty changing professions or workplace than they do in changing their families and distancing themselves from loved ones (I know that there are exceptions).

 It

is therefore logical that individuals will feel looser bonds to both the roles that they occupy and the persons with whom they interact within the workplace.

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As societies grow, there is increased focus on role preparation.
 Functionalists such as Durkheim argue for an organic solidarity derived from interdependence arising from the division of labour.
 However, even Durkheim recognized the possibility of greater levels of individual feelings of isolation (associated with the division of labour), especially when we stand independent of the roles that we occupy within secondary groupings such as bureaucratic organizations.


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 There

are various arguments which you can engage through reading the course material that deal with perspectives on the changing face of social organization including debureaucratization.  Some base their arguments on issues relating to the continuity and/or transformations in the characteristic features of bureaucracies, while some give greater focus to abstract principles, culturally based values and goals associated with bureaucracies, rather than the traditional features of bureaucracies.
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 There

are also those who present culturally based organizational models that do not show much resemblance to bureaucracies, such as the Japanese model.
 Critically engage the material and construct your own perspectives – it may be fun!

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Mills, C. Wright. 1959. The Sociological
Imagination. 2000 (Fortieth Anniversary Edition) with new Afterword by Todd Gitlin. New York:
Oxford University Press Inc.
 The University of the West Indies Open Campus.
2005. Social Sciences Course Material –
Introduction to Sociology SOCI1002 (SY14G). 2nd ed. The University of the West Indies
 Wallace, Ruth A., and Alison Wolf. 1999.
Contemporary Sociological Theory: Expanding the Classical Tradition. 5th ed. New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall, Inc.
