Ritzer Weber - Bureaucracy.professionalization

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 8
At a glance
Powered by AI
The document discusses Max Weber's views on professionalization and its relationship to bureaucratization and rationalization. Weber saw professionalization as part of the rationalization process and did not see it as antithetical to bureaucratization.

The document discusses Max Weber's views on the professions and their relationship to bureaucratization and rationalization.

Some of the key figures and theories mentioned include Max Weber, bureaucratization, rationalization, Karl Marx, the iron cage, and theories on social conflict and the reduction of intergroup tensions.

Weberian Professions I 627

Dahrendorf, Ralf. 1957. Class and Class Conflict (trans.). Conflict and the Web of Group Affilia-
in Industrial Society. Stanford: Stanford Uni- tions. New York: Free Press, 1956.
versity Press. - - - . 1950. The Sociology of Georg Simmel:
- - - . 1958. "Toward a Theory of Social Con- Earlier Essays Kurt H. Wolff (trans.). Glencoe:
flict." Journal of Conflict Resolution 2(June)x. Free Press.
Fink, C. F. 1968. "Some Conceptual Difficulties of Turner, Jonathan H. 1973. "From Utopia to
Social Conflict." Journal of Conflict Resolution Where: A Critique of the Dahrendorf Conflict
12(December) :412-60. Mode!''' Social Forces 52(December) :236-44.
Mack, R. W., and R. C. Snyder. 1957. "The --~. 1974. The Structure of Sociological The-
Analysis of Social Conflict-Toward An Over- ory. Homewood, Ill.: Dorsey.
view and Synthesis." Journal of Conflict Reso- - - - . 1975. "A Strategy for Reformulating the
lutionl(June):212-48. Dialectical and Functional Theories of Con-
Marx, Karl. 1848. The Communist Manifesto. flict." Social Forces 53(March) :433-44.
New York: International Publishers, 1932. Williams, Jr .. Robin M. 1947. The Reduction of
--~. 1867. Das Capital. New York: Modern Intergroup Tensions. New York: Social Science

Downloaded from http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/ at Penn State University (Paterno Lib) on May 11, 2016
Library, 1906. Original German version, 1867. Research Council.
Schelling, Thomas C. 1960. The Strategy of Con- - - - . 1970. "Social Order and Social Conflict."
flict. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. In Proceedings of the American Philosophical
Simmel, Georg. 1908. "Conflict." In Kurt H. Wolff Society 114(June) :217-25.

ProJessionalization, Bureaucratization and


Rationalization: The Views of Max Weber*
GEORGE RITZER, University of Maryland

ABSTRACT
Although it has not been recognized, Max Weber had a great deal to say about the professions and
the relationship between professionalization, bureaucratization and rationalization. His ideas are very
contemporary. He recognized that professionalization, like bureaucratization, is an aspect of the ra-
tionalization of society. Unlike some contemporary sociologists, Weber saw that professionalization and
bureaucratization are not antithetical. Finally, Weber understood that a profession must be viewed
from the structural, processual, and power perspectives. Weber's rich understanding of the professions
is attributed to two factors. First, he saw them as part of the rationalization process. Second, his
thinking was not distorted, as was the case with American sociologists, by the aberrant case of the
physician in private practice as the prototype of the professions.

This paper deals with the heretofore un- world. Second, I develop Weber's concept of
recognized significance of the concept of a a profession from his widely scattered thoughts
profession in the work of Max Weber. My on the subject and relate it to current con-
analysis is divided into three sections. First, ceptions of a profession. Finally, I take up
there is the place of the professions in Weber's Weber's ideas on the relationship between pro-
general analysis of the rationalization of the fessions and bureaucracies. I believe that
Occident and the corresponding failure to de- Weber's thoughts on the professions, and their
velop similar rationality in the rest of the relationship to the issues of bureaucratization
and rationalization are extremely significant for
* This is a revised version of a paper entitled contemporary sociology.
"Max Weber and the Sociological Study of the Although Weber's thoughts on the profes-
Professions" presented at the annual meeting of
sions have had little effect on the sociology of
the American Sociological Association, 1974. I
would like to thank Kenneth C. 'V. Kammeyer for occupations, it is ironic that his intimately re-
his help with this paper. lated work on bureaucracies has been the
628 I SOCIAL FORCES I vol. 53:4, june 1975

cornerstone of the sociology of organizations fact that Weber linked Calvinistic asceticism
from its inception. The reasons for the dis- to the professions: "The clear and uniform
parity between Weber's role in the sociology goal of this asceticism was the disciplining and
of organizations and the sociology of occupa- methodical organization of conduct. Its typical
tions are many and can be traced to differences representative was the 'man of a vocation'
in the history and current status of the two or 'professional' (Beru/mensch) , and its unique
fields. A most important reason, however, lies result was the rational organization of social
in the way Weber presented the two concepts. relationships," (Weber, 1968:556). Although
Although bureaucracy appears throughout his Weber implies here that Calvinism led to the
work, it is also neatly depicted in the now development of the professions, he also at-
famous ideal-typical form of bureaucratic tributed a causal influence to professionalism-
organization. This concise description was one in the Occidental development of rationalism,

Downloaded from http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/ at Penn State University (Paterno Lib) on May 11, 2016
of the earliest Weberian concepts to be trans- and in particular capitalism and bureaucracy:
lated into English and it proved to be seminal "This worldly asceticism as a whole favors the
for organizational theorists interested in ana- breeding and exaltation of the professionalism
lyzing, testing, and expanding the ideal type. needed by capitalism and bureaucracy. Life is
Although the concept of a profession also ap- focused not on persons but on impersonal ra-
pears throughout Weber's work, it does not tional goals" (Weber, 1968: 1200). Here, as in
receive the same concise ideal-type treatment. the rest of his work, Weber sees causality as
As a result, it must be extrapolated from the multi-faceted and multi-directional.
body of Weber's work and that task was In addition to linking professionals to the
virtually impossible in America until the trans- development of Western rationality, Weber also
lation of Economy and Society in 1968. In a related them to the development of a variety of
sense the Weberian concept of a profession was specific institutions in the West. The relation-
hidden from American sociologists (except ship was, of course, two-sided. Professionals
those who read German well enough to read contributed to the rationalization of these insti-
the original) until that time. It is therefore not tutions and, conversely, the rationalizing insti-
surprising that the sociological literature on the tutions contributed to the development of the
professions shows comparatively little Weber- professions. For example, Weber (1968:1164)
ian influence.' The goal of this paper is to discussed four factors that characterized the
rectify this serious omission. emergence of the more rational church from
the medieval hierocracy and first on that list
THE PROFESSIONS IN THE OCCIDENT was "the rise of a professional priesthood re-
It is well known that the bulk of Weber's work moved from the 'world,' with salaries, promo-
examines the development of rationality in the tions, professional duties, and a distinctive way
Occident and the barriers to that development of life." Conversely, he saw the rise of the
in the rest of the world. He analyzed a variety modern church contributing to the develop-
of factors that led to the rise of rationality in ment of a professional priesthood.
the West and examined a number of structures Although Weber linked the professional to
that seemed to embody that rationality. Among a number of institutions, let us examine in some
these structures can be included the market, detail his argument on the relationship be-
bureaucracy, and professions. I do not mean tween professionals and the development of the
to imply by this that the concept of the pro- legal system. On the one hand, Weber (1968:
fession is as important as the others in Weber's 775) asserted that the professional was needed
thinking. But it is clear that a profession is for the development of a rational system of
an important example of Western rationality. law: "formally elaborated law constituting a
Calvinism, and the asceticism it produced, complex of maxims consciously applied in de-
played a crucial role in the development of cisions has never come into existence without
Occidental rationality. The linkage of Calvin-
ism to the spirit and practice of capitalism, 2 For convenience, I am using the terms pro-

to the market, and bureaucracy is very familiar fession, professionalism, and professionalization
to American sociology. Less well known is the synonymously in this paper. To the purist, pro-
fession refers to the occupational category, pro-
fessionalism to the process by which individuals
'One important exception is the work of become professionals (Ritzer, 1973) and profes-
Weber's translator, Talcott Parsons, on the pro- sionalization to the process by which occupations
fessions. See, for example, Parsons (1939). become professions.
Weberian Professions I 629

the decisive cooperation of trained specialists." lawyer, it leads to the development of a ra-
On the other hand, the development of ra- tional legal system in which "the legal concepts
tional law led to the need for the professional: produced by academic law-teaching bear the
'The increased need for specialized legal character of abstract norms" (Weber, 1968:
knowledge created the professional lawyer. 789).
This growing demand for experience and It is this last method of producing profes-
specialized knowledge and the consequent stim- sional legal experts and the development of a
ulus for increasing rationalization of the law rational legal system that is peculiar to the
have almost always come from increasing sig- Occident. Other societies failed to develop a
nificance of commerce and those participating rational legal system because they lacked, at
in it. For the solution of the new problems least in part, a system for training professional
thus created, specialized, i.e., rational, training legal experts. On a general level, Weber (1968:

Downloaded from http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/ at Penn State University (Paterno Lib) on May 11, 2016
is an ineluctable requirement." 883) argued that "the stage of law decisively
Weber examined the different forms of legal shaped by legal specialists has not been ful1y
training and the effects of these diverse forms reached anywhere outside the Occident."
on the development of law. First, legal training Weber also turned his attention to specific
can take the form of a craft occupation with societies to determine why they lacked a ra-
the neophyte learning from established practi- tional legal system. In discussing the legal
tioners while on the job. This kind of training system in India, he wrote (1968: 817) "since
tends to produce a craftsman, rather than a no one thus specialized in its study and ad-
professionaJ.3 In terms of its effects, this type ministration, it escaped . . . rationalization."
of legal training failed to produce a rational On China Weber (1968: 818) contended that
system of law as is the case when lawyers are "there also was no stratum of responding
trained to be professionals. Instead, it produced jurisconsults and no specialized legal training."
a formalistic law which "did not aim at all It has been made abundantly clear that the
at a rational system but rather at a practical1y trained legal expert is important for the de-
useful sphere of contracts and actions, oriented velopment of a rational legal system: "for-
towards the interests of clients in typically mal1y elaborated law constituting a complex of
recurrent situations. . . . From such practices maxims consciously applied in decisions has
and attitudes no rational system of law could never come into existence without the decisive
emerge" (Weber, 1968:787). cooperation of trained specialists" (Weber,
A second possibility in the development of 1968:775). But, Weber went much further and
the legal occupation is training by what Weber argued that professional legal training is the
calls "honoratiores," or notables. Such an elite decisive factor in the development of rational
system of legal training is unlikely to produce law. Where professionals are in a position to
a professional lawyer or a rational legal system. shape the development of law, that law is likely
Finally, there is the system of training to become rationalized. Such an "intrajuristic"
lawyers that produces both professional factor is far more important than general eco-
lawyers and a rational legal system. In this nomic and social conditions: "The prevailing
training system "law is taught in special type of legal education, i.e., the mode of train-
schools, where the emphasis is placed on legal ing of the practitioners of the law, has been
theory and 'science,' that is, where legal phe- more important than any other factor" (Weber,
nomena are given rational and systematic treat- 1968:776).-
ment" (Weber, 1968:784-785). It is modern Although I have devoted most of this section
legal training in the universities that represents to a discussion of the professional legal expert
the "purest type" of this brand of legal train- in the Occident, the same argument applies to
ing. In addition to producing the professional the development of the professions in general.
That is, it is only in the West that we find the
3 Unfortunately, Weber is not as clear here as
I contend. He uses the term professional to de- wide-scale development of the professional.
scribe the craftsman-lawyer. Such a usage tends to There were, however, some professionals in
blur the distinctive characteristics of the profes- other societies just as we do find isolated
sional and I have therefore chosen to use the term
craftsman to describe the lawyer produced by this _Here I think Weber is engaging in another of
type of training program. Weber is not alone in his debates with Marx, or is, at the minimum,
confusing the difference between professionals and seeking to round Marx out by pointing out that
craftsmen. More contemporaneously, this confu- in this case specific factors have been far more
sion can be found in Arthur Stinchcombe (1959). significant than the economic variable.
630 I SOCIAL FORCES I vol. 53:4, june 1975

bureaucracies outside the Occident. But they professions is seen as monopoly over their
were extremely rare and qualitatively different work tasks. A profession achieves such mon-
from the Occidential professional. In general, opoly by convincing the state and the lay pub-
other societies presented barriers to the rise lic that they need, and deserve, such a right.
of the professions. Take, for example, Weber's The power perspective is not, in my view, anti-
discussion of China: "For the educational thetical to the processual and structural ap-
achievements, controlled by the examinations, proach and is, to the structuralist, one of the
did not impart professional qualifications but defining characteristics of the profession. We
rather their exact opposite ... The Confucian can see power as both the motor force behind
maxim that a refined man was not a tool- drives toward professionalization as well as
the ethical ideal of universal self-perfection, so one of the defining characteristics of the pro-
radically opposed to the Occidental notion of fessions.

Downloaded from http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/ at Penn State University (Paterno Lib) on May 11, 2016
a specific vocation-stood in the way of pro- There is implicit in Weber's work on pro-
fessional schooling and specialized compe- fessions a conception that is very close to the
tencies" (Weber, 1968: 1049). modern perspective that integrates structures,
In this section I have sought to demonstrate process, and power.
Weber's concern with the professions and their Unlike his ideal-type of bureaucracy, Weber
place in his thinking on the rationalization of offers no clearly delineated definition of a pro-
the Occident. I now turn to two topics of con- fession. The defining characteristics of a pro-
cern in contemporary sociology, in particular fession are embedded in discussions of specific
the sociology of occupations. I will first deal occupations to which Weber accords the label
with Weber's conception of the professions. I of a profession. It is in his discussion of the
will then turn to Weber's thoughts on the re- priest that he outlines most clearly the defining
lationship between bureaucracies and profes- characteristics of a profession. He also accepts
sions and their implication for contemporary the idea of a professional continuum and sees
work on this issue. power as a significant dimension of profession-
alism.
DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF A PROFESSION
Weber sees the priest as an ideal type that
A significant portion of the literature on pro- lies on one end of the continuum with another
fessions discusses those characteristics that ideal type at the other end which he variously
differentiate the professions from all other oc- labels sorcerer, magician, or prophet. The
cupations. There are three sociological ap- priest is the ideal-typical professional and the
proaches to defining the professions; the struc- sorcerer the ideal-typical non-professional. As
tural, the processual and the power approaches. with all of his ideal types, Weber recognizes
The structural approach is ahistorical and that, in reality, there is a continuum and that
points to a series of static characteristics pos- no neat differentiation exists between priest and
sessed by the professions and lacking in the sorcerer. The ideal types here, as throughout
non-professions. Greenwood (1957) and Weber's work, are heuristic devices, not de-
Goode (1957) offer classic examples of the scriptions of reality. He says of the priest and
structural approach to defining professions. In the sorcerer: "the two contrasted types flow
the processual approach, the focus is on a into one another" (Weber, 1968:425). I view
series of historical stages through which an such a perspective as compatible with the
occupation must go enroute to becoming a process approach to the study of professions.
profession. Representative of this genre is the In delineating the characteristics of the priest
work of Caplow (1954) and Wilensky (1964). and the sorcerer, Weber also touches on the
Ritzer (1972) argued that these two approaches dimension of power in the process of profes-
can be combined in the idea that there is a sionalization. He sees sorcerers exerting "their
professional continuum with occupations at influence by virtue of personal gifts (charisma)
the professional end of the continuum having made manifest in miracle and revelation."
more of the defining characteristics than those (Weber, 1968:425) The power of the sorcerer
occupations that stand on the non-professional stems from his charismatic authority. His train-
end of the continuum. ing "proceeds in part as an 'awakening' using
The third, and most modern, approach is irrational means and aiming at rebirth, and pro-
the power perspective and it is best embodied ceeds in part as training in purely empirical
in the work of Eliot Freidson (1970). The lore" (Weber, 1968:425). The sorcerer is a
single most important characteristic of the non-rational figure. His source of power is non-
Weberian Professions I 631

rational as is his mode of trairung. He is of professions in the course of his discussion


powerful in non-rational societies. However, the of the priesthood:
Occident is moving in the direction of ration- 5. Specialization. 'The crucial feature of
ality and it is predictable, therefore, that the the priesthood [is] the specialization of a
sorcerer would lose his power to the highly particular group of persons in the opera-
rational priest. The sorcerer simply cannot tion of a cultic enterprise" (Weber,
convince significant others in a rational society 1968:426) .
that he deserves a series of rights and privi- 6. A full-time occupation. 'The full de-
leges. In contrast, the priest, who is in tune velopment of both a metaphysical ra-
with the rational society, finds it relatively tionalization and a religious ethic re-
easy to win a position of significance. quires an independent and professionally
To Weber (1968:425) the priest is distin- trained priesthood, permanently occupied

Downloaded from http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/ at Penn State University (Paterno Lib) on May 11, 2016
guished from the sorcerer by "his professional with the cult and with the practical prob-
equipment of special knowledge, fixed doctrine, lems involved in the cure of souls"
and vocational qualifications." All three of (Weber, 1968:426).
these factors are crucial in distinguishing the 7. The existence of a clientele. At a number
priest (and more generally, the professional), of places in his discussion of the priest
but they are subordinated to what is the cru- Weber discusses the need for a laity, or
cial dimension in Weber's thinking on the pro- clientele.
fessions, the nature of the training program: S-Il. Salaries. Promotions. Professional duties.
"the distinction between priest and magician A distinctive way of life (professional
must be established qualitatively with reference culture): "The rise of a professional
to the different nature of learning in the two priesthood removed from the 'world,'
cases" (Weber, 1968 :425). It is the rational with salaries, promotions, professional
and theoretical training of the priest that does duties, and a distinctive way of life"
the most to distinguish him from the sorcerer (Weber, 1968: 1164).
and his irrational and empirical training.
Although rational training is crucial to This list of eleven characteristics, which in
Weber, the question arises as to what profes- Weber's view serve to distinguish professional
sionals (in this case, priests) are being trained priests from sorcerers, is remarkably similar to
in? Contemporaneously, we argue that general, a number of contemporary efforts to enumerate
systematic knowledge is a defining character- the defining characteristics of professions. Fur-
istic of the professions and the subject of pro- thermore any effort to enumerate such charac-
fessional training. Although he did not use teristics is, at least implicitly, an effort to de-
this terminology, Weber (I96S:426) comes velop an ideal type in the Weberian sense.
close When he says: "'Doctrine' has already Finally, many contemporary students of occu-
been advanced as one of the fundamental pations are coming to recognize that profes-
traits of the priesthood. We may assume that sions and occupations form a continuum and
the outstanding marks of doctrine are the de- that power is a significant factor in the ability
velopment of a rational system of religious of an occupation to move toward the profes-
concepts and (what is of the utmost importance sional end of the continuum. Thus contem-
to us here) the development of a systematic porary work in the sociology of occupations
and distinctively religious ethic based upon a has much to gain from Weberian insights.
consistent and stable doctrine which purports Unfortunately, we have had to rediscover in
to be a 'revelation.' " recent years what Weber had already discov-
I have already delineated several of the de- ered over half a century ago. However, Weber's
fining characteristics of a profession offered by major unrecognized contribution to contem-
Weber in his discussion of the priest: porary occupational sociology lies in his
thoughts on the relationship between profes-
1. Power. sions and bureaucracies. It is to that topic
2. Doctrine, or general systematic knowl- that I now turn.
edge.
PROFESSIONALIZATlON AND
3. Rational training.
DUREA ucax TIZATlON
4. Vocational qualifications.
One of the most interesting and hotly debated
Weber offers a number of other characteristics issues in the sociology of occupations is the
632 I SOCIAL FORCES I vol. 53:4, june 1975

relationship between professionalization and it has occupied the bulk of the attention of
bureaucratization. The most widely held posi- those Americans who studied the professions.
tion, at least until recently, is that these two The focus on this single, in many ways aber-
processes (and the resulting structures, profes- rant, occupation served to distort American
sions and bureaucracies) are, at least to some thinking on the relationship between profes-
degree, antithetical. This antithesis comes out sionalization and bureaucratization.
most clearly in the literature that argues that Unlike most occupations, the physician
when a professional is employed in a bureauc- existed apart from formal organizations, at
racy, he is confronted with conflict because of least between the late 1800s and the mid
the basic differences between these two norma- 1900s. In those years the physician developed
tive systems. (See, for example, Scott, 1966.) an ethic of autonomy and therefore found
But a number of recent studies have tended to himself in conflict with the bureaucracy, when

Downloaded from http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/ at Penn State University (Paterno Lib) on May 11, 2016
cast doubt on the assumption that profession- he was employed in one. It is from this single
alization and bureaucratization are antithetical case that occupational sociologists generalized
(Bucher and Stellings, 1969; Engel, 1969; Hall, about the antithesis between bureaucratization
1967; Litwak, 1961; Montagna, 1968; Smigel, and professionalization. But most professions
1969). never existed outside of bureaucracies, hence
Weber has a great deal to say on the issue never faced the conflict experienced by the phy-
of the relationship between bureaucratization sician. In recent years, even the physician finds
and professionalization. Interestingly, his posi- himself employed in organizations and the
tion is more in line with contemporary re- occupational sociologist is discovering that the
search on the question than with the older physician can live within a bureaucracy. The
view that the two processes are opposed. To concentration on the physician in private prac-
Weber, bureaucratization and professionaliza- tice has distorted the thinking of occupational
tion were complementary processes involved in sociologists on the relationship between bu-
the rationalization of the Occident. Further- reaucratization and professionalization. Since
more, the process of professionalization is he ignored this aberrant case, Weber's ideas
viewed by Weber as occurring largely within are far more valid.
bureaucracies. The two processes are insepara- Examples of the linking of professionaliza-
bly intertwined in Weber's thinking. Weber is tion and bureaucratization are frequently
generally concerned with the "bureaucratic- found in Weber's work. On a general level, he
professional" (Ritzer, 1972: 345) that is, with argued that "the bureaucratization of all domi-
the professional who exists within a bureauc- nation very strongly furthers the development
racy and seeks to balance the two systems. To of 'rational-rnatter-of-factness' and the person-
Weber, the priest, and the soldier are, in the ality type of the professional expert" (Weber,
Occident, examples of bureaucratic-profession- 1968: 998). In addition to such general state-
als. ments, Weber also linked professionalization
What distinguishes Weber's thinking from and bureaucratization in specific settings:
that of early American sociology of occupa-
tions which saw an inevitable antithesis be- Military. "Only the bureaucratic army struc-
tween professionalization and bureaucratiza- ture allows for the development of the pro-
tion? One difference is that Weber's thinking fessional standing armies ..." (Weber, 1968:
981).
was embedded in his broader orientation to-
ward the rationalization of the Occident. When Religion. "The rise of a professional priest-
one is examining rationality, it is relatively hood . . . must occur in some kind of com-
easy to see that professionalization and bu- pulsory organization" (Weber, 1968: 1164).
reaucratization are related causes, and conse- "This worldly asceticism as a whole favors the
quences, of growing rationality. In contrast, breeding and exaltation of the professionalism
American occupational sociologists tended to needed by capitalism and bureaucracy"
look at these processes in isolation and there- (Weber, 1968: 1200) .
fore failed to see their linkages.
A second difference between Weber and It is clear from these statements, and the
many American sociologists is the amount of thrust of his work, that Weber saw no anti-
attention they gave to one specific occupa- thesis between professionalization and bureauc-
tion-the physician in private practice. Weber ratization. They are complementary processes
devoted little attention to this occupation while involved in the rationalization of the Occident.
Weberian Professions I 633

Although the bulk of Weber's work stresses part of some professionals to total routiruza-
the complementarity of professionalism and tion. But the thrust of his work leads me to
bureaucratization, there are points where he believe that Weber felt that they must inevit-
seems to see a conflict between the two proc- ably fail. The end, for Weber, is clear, un-
esses. Weber, of course, saw bureaucratization avoidable and horrible. It is a mechanized
leading to the "iron cage" of mindless routini- routinized world in which professionals, bu-
zation. Although he applauded the efficiency reaucrats. and bureaucratic-professionals are
of the bureaucracy, he abhorred the mechani- all neat little cogs in a perfectly functioning
zation of life it produced. There are points machine. The events of today seem to support
in his work where Weber seems to hold out Weber's pessimism as professionals are becom-
some hope, although slim, of averting, or at ing a part of bureaucracies and indistinguish-
least ameliorating, what was to him a horrid able from them (Engel and Hall, 1973). It

Downloaded from http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/ at Penn State University (Paterno Lib) on May 11, 2016
fate. Although specialized, routinized, and ra- may be. following Weber, that the demise of
tionalized there are some professionals who the professions as a distinctive category spelIs
seem able to resist, to some degree, the bu- the end of the last hope of avoiding "the iron
reaucratization of life. The lawyer seems to cage."
be one professional who is inclined to resist
bureaucratization and call for what Weber calls CONCLUSIONS

"judicial creativeness," rather than mindless A major goal of this paper has been to convey
routine. The opposition of the lawyer to mind- some of Max Weber's very rich insights on
less routinization is underscored by Weber the nature of professionalization and its rela-
(1968: 886): "Being confined to the interpreta- tionship to bureaucratization and rationaliza-
tion of statutes and contracts. like a slot ma- tion. Such an enterprise is necessary since many
chine .into which one just drops the facts (plus sociologists either know nothing of Weber's
the fee) in order to have it spew out the de- work on the topic. or hold erroneous views.
cision (plus opinion), appears to the modern One such error is conveyed in a recent paper
lawyer beneath his dignity; and the more uni- where the authors argue "The social organiza-
versal the codified formal statute law has be- tion of both the professions as traditionaIly
come, the more unattractive has this notion conceived and the old crafts results in work
come to be." situations which are, and were, in the Weberian
Weber's major hope seems to lie with the ( 1940) sense, irrationaIly structured" (Engel
professional politician whom he differentiates and HaIl, 1973). Quite to the contrary, Weber
from the bureaucratic civil servant. Of course, regarded professionalization as an aspect of
Weber saw that most modern politicians were the process of rationalization. A similar error
lawyers, so his views on politicians are inti- is made by Freidson (1973: 19) when he argues
mately related to his views on lawyers. In his that professional principles are "logically and
famous essay, "Politics as a Vocation" Weber substantively in contrast to what might be
succinctly describes the difference between the called the administrative principle, which
politician and the civil servant: figures prominently in Max Weber's view of
To take a stand, to be passionate-ira et the rationalization of society."
studium-i-is the politician's element, and above Following Weber, I see both bureaucratiza-
all the element of the political leader. His con- tion and professionalization as aspects of the
'duct is subject to quite different, indeed, exactly rationalization of society. As such, they share
the opposite, principle of responsibility from that
of the civil servant. The honor of the civil servant many more commonalities than is traditionally
is vested in his ability to execute conscientiously noted in the literature. There are certainly
the order of the superior authorities, exactly as if points of difference. even conflict, between the
the order agreed with his own conviction. . . . two processes, but these are subordinated to
The honor of the political leader, of the leading
statesman, however, lies precisely in an exclusive the enormous number of similarities between
personal responsibility for what he does, a re- them. I think much of the recent literature has
sponsibility he cannot and must not reject or tended to support this original Weberian in-
transfer" (Gerth and Mills, 1958:95). sight. Although we continue to see articles
Weber sees the successful politician in need positing an antithesis between bureaucratiza-
of heroism and passion and these two charac- tion and professiona1ization (Freidson, 1973),
teristics are clearly at odds with the kind of the intimate relationship between these proc-
personality produced by the bureaucracy. esses is fast becoming an accepted sociological
Weber, then, sees some resistance on the tenet.
634 I SOCIAL FORCES I vol. 53:4, june 1975

REFERENCES Litwak, E. 1961. "Models of Bureaucracy Which


Permit Conflict, "American Journal of Soci-
Bucher, R., and J. Stellings. 1969. "Characteristics ology 67:177-84.
of Professional Organizations." Journal of Montagna, Paul. 1968. "Professionalization and
Health and Social Behavior:3-15. Bureaucratization in Large Professional Organi-
Caplow, Theodore. 1954. The Sociology of Work. zations." American Journal of Sociology: 138-46.
New York: McGraw-Hill. Parsons, T. 1939. "The Professions and Social
Engel, G. 1969. "The Effect of Bureaucracy on the Structure." Social Forces 17(May) :457-67.
Professional Authority of Physicians." Journal
Ritzer, George. 1972. Man and His Work: Con-
of Health and Social Behavior: 30-41.
flict and Change. New York: Appleton-Century-
Engel, G. V., and R. Hall. 1973. "The Growing
Crofts.
Industrialization of the Professions." In Eliot
Freidson, (ed.), The Professions and Their - - - . 1973. "Professionalism and the Individ-
Prospects. Beverly Hills: Sage. ual." In Eliot Freidson (ed.), The Professions
Freidson, Eliot. 1970. Profession of Medicine: A and Their Prospects. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Scott, W. R. 1966. "Professionals in Organizations

Downloaded from http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/ at Penn State University (Paterno Lib) on May 11, 2016
Study of the Sociology of Applied Knowledge.
New York: Dodd, Mead. -Areas of Conflict." In Howard Vollmer and
- - - . 1973. (Ed.). The Professions and Their Donald Mills (eds.), Proiessionalization. Engle-
Prospects. Beverly Hills: Sage. wood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Gerth, Hans, and C. Wright Mills. 1958. From Smigel, Erwin. 1969. The Wall Street Lawyer:
Max Weber. New York: Oxford University Professional Organization Man. Bloomington:
Press. Indiana University Press.
Goode, W. 1957. "Community Within a Com- Stinchcornbe, A. 1959. "Bureaucratic and Craft
munity: The Professions," American Sociologi- Administration of Production: A Comparative
cal Review 22: 194-200. Study." Administrative Science Quarterly 4: 168-
Greenwood, E. 1957. "Attributes of a Profession." 87.
Social Work 2:45-55. Weber, Max. 1968. Economy and Society. Totowa,
Hall, R. 1967. "Some Organizational Considera- N.J.: Bedminster.
tions in the Professional-Organizational Rela- Wilensky, H. 1964. "The Professionalization of
tionship." Administrative Science Quarterly:461- Everyone?" American Journal of Sociology,
78. 70:137-58.

You might also like