Max Weber’s

Iron Cage

Presenter: Salita Ismond

Date: February 18, 2022
TABLE OF CONTENT
01 02 03 04
Key Words Introduction Iron Cage Modernization and
Bureaucracy

05 06 07 08
Iron Cage of Iron Cage of
Bureaucracy Conclusion
Bureaucracy Rationality
09

References
 KEY WORDS
Capitalism: is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of
production and their operation for profit.

Modernity/ Modern: of, relating to, or characteristic of the present or the

immediate past.

Teleology: or finality is a reason or explanation for something as a function of its

end, purpose, or goal, as opposed to as a function of its cause.

Rationality: the state or quality of being rational or logical.

Efficiency: the ability to achieve an end goal with little to no waste, effort, or
energy.

Bureaucracy: a system of administration based upon organization

into bureaus, division of labour, a hierarchy of authority, etc: designed to dispose of
a large body of work in a routine manner.
 Introduction
Max Weber
German Sociologist (1864 – 1920)
The ‘Iron Cage’ theory was first presented by Weber in
his work ‘The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism’.
Grew up at a time when everyone was moving from farm to
factory (Industrialization)
Organizations were being run based on traditional authority
(who you knew, not what you knew)

* Weber saw that this was unlikely the best way to run an
organization this gave way to the bureaucratic system.
* Increasing improvements in science and technology had
created a society that became increasingly dependent on
efficiency and predictability (Rational system).
 Iron Cage
In Sociology, the iron cage is a term coined by Max
Weber for the increased rationalization inherent in
social life, particularly in Western Capitalist
societies.
The ‘iron cage’ thus traps individuals in a system
based purely on teleological efficiency, rational
calculation and control.
Modernization and
Bureaucratic Systems
As Societies Modernize there will be increasing levels
of Bureaucratic systems so as to ensure that everyone
is treated equally, on the other hand there will exist
dehumanization.
BUREAUCRACY
IRON CAGE OF BUREAUCRACY

Dehumanizing individuals as ‘cogs in a

machine’, and curtailing its freedom,
trapping them in the bureaucratic cage of
bureaucracy and rationality.
 IRON CAGE OF RATIONALITY

Rational Non-Rational
- Calculating - What is Right
- Efficiency Maximize - Values, Morals,
- Self Interest Tradition
- Focused on results - Self Sacrifice
- Impersonal - Process Focused
- Predictability - Personal
CONCLUSION

Are we living in an
Iron Cage?
 REFERENCES
Escaping the Iron Cage or Subversive Rationalization and Democratic Theory, A. Feenberg

The Modern World as a Monolithic Iron Cage? Utilizing Max Weber to Define the Internal Dynamics of
the American Political Culture Today, S. Kalberg, May 2001

Max Weber Iron Cage Theory by K. Kasi, Jun 26, 2019

Max Weber’s Conception of “iron cage” in Today’s Rationality, S. Tekin

Revisiting the Iron Cage: New Insights in Institutions Theory from Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and
the Spirit of Capitalism, Michael D. Grosack, March, 2006

Max Weber The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Translated by T. Parsons, 2001

Visiting the Iron Cage: Bureaucracy and the Contemporary Workplace, A.H. Yu¨ksel, March 2014

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