Max Weber presented the concept of iron cage in one of his most influential book “The Protestant Ethics and Spirit of Capitalism”. He described his theory via the evolution of west society. Pre evolution west society was governed by traditional or religious values however, with the passage of time it evolve into increasingly secular society based on the objective of economic gain. Due to the advancement of science and engineering traditional west society transform into industrial society which was governed by rational norms such as, cost benefit analysis. He argued that, rationalization is the key component in the process of modernization. When rationalization increase within societies it leads toward modernization. Rationalization refer to the formal social norms, procedures and regulation that governs human social conduct. These rational norms and procedures maximize productivity and economic gain. However, the sole objectives of rational social structure is to maximize efficiency of production without considering the feelings of individuals. Max Weber concede that, no doubt rationalization is responsible for many advancement within societies but, when rationalization further increase within societies it could be a bad thing. Individuals would feel trapped in the cage of rational processes within society.
Weber social outlook of iron cage is similar to Karl Marx social theory of Alienation. Karl Marx argued that structure of capitalist societies is organized in a fashion which push away individuals from one another and their social life. Weber social theory of iron cage infer same thing that, individuals within modern societies feel imprisoned in a cage of formal rules. The concept of “iron cage” is based on thorough observation of modern social structure. Weber observed the prosperity that resulted through logical or rational decision making compare to the dictates of traditional religious authorities. But rationalization also introduced highly bureaucratic social structure. Bureaucratic social structure is based on the characteristics such as, written rules or formal norms, hierarchical order, division of labor strictly based on specialization and impersonality. Weber believed that Bureaucratic structure was necessary for industrial societies in order to accomplish its objective (maximize economic gain or profit maximization).
However, people was still trapped in the cage of bureaucracy after getting freedom from outdated and rigid traditional norm. Bureaucratic structure had dehumanizing effect on individual’s lives because the primary goal of rationalized structure is to get things done efficiently, people personal desires do not matter, they are treated just as means to an end. Specialized division of labor increase the degree of interdependence among individuals due to which people think that their worth is determined by others within society instead of their own skills. Acquiring better job become more important than self-improvement, higher status has greater value than productivity. Weber says that disenchantment is the cost modern society has to pay for maximizing profit through rationalized structure because Individuals’ lives become more mechanical rather than social.
Written by; Khushdil Khan Kasi