Weber Essay Flashcards
(28 cards)
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Rationalization — Weberian definition?
Historical process in which action and thought become organized by calculability, efficiency, and predictability, privileging instrumental reason over tradition and charisma.
Zweckrationalität (instrumental rationality)?
Action oriented toward selecting the most efficient means to attain a given end; dominates modern institutions.
Wertrationalität (value‑rational action)?
Action guided by intrinsic ethical or religious convictions regardless of consequences; potential counter‑logic to instrumentalism.
Disenchantment (Entzauberung)?
Cultural shift in which religious‑mythical worldviews are replaced by scientific and technical explanations, stripping life of sacred meaning.
Iron cage (stahlhartes Gehäuse)?
Condition where individuals are trapped within impersonal systems of calculative control produced by bureaucratic rationalization.
Societalization (Vergesellschaftung) — definition?
Transformation of communal, affective bonds into impersonal, rule‑bound, institutional relations under modernity.
Gemeinschaft vs. Gesellschaft (Tönnies/Weber)?
Community based on shared values & face‑to‑face ties vs. society organized through legal norms and contractual roles.
Bureaucracy — core definition?
Legal‑rational organization characterized by hierarchy, written rules, functional specialization, and technical competence.
Five features of Weberian bureaucracy?
1) Hierarchical authority 2) Functional specialization 3) Written rules 4) Impersonal relations 5) Technical credentialing.
Instrumental‑bureaucratic ideal type?
Bureaucracy governed by Zweckrationalität; prioritizes efficiency and system maintenance over substantive values.
Value‑rational bureaucracy ideal type?
Bureaucracy structurally similar to Weber’s model but oriented toward ethical or spiritual ends (Wertrationalität).
Islamization of Knowledge (IOK) — aim?
Reintegrate Islamic ethical‑metaphysical principles (Tawhid) into modern disciplines to heal epistemic fragmentation.
Tawhidic epistemology — meaning?
Unified conception of knowledge grounded in divine oneness, rejecting the sacred/secular split of Western modernity.
Epistemic bureaucracy (IOK critique)?
Modern academia’s rule‑based credentialing system that standardizes knowledge and marginalizes non‑Western paradigms.
Ijazah system vs. diploma?
Classical Islamic certification personalized yet procedural vs. modern impersonal diploma; both bureaucratic but differ in moral telos.
Ijazah as value‑rational bureaucracy?
Uses bureaucratic elements (authorization, hierarchy) to preserve ethical transmission and spiritual accountability.
IOK critique of rationalization?
Identifies disenchantment and value/fact split as causes of ‘epistemological schizophrenia’ in Muslim societies.
IOK critique of societalization?
Sees colonial schooling and secular universities as displacing traditional kin‑based Islamic learning networks.
IOK critique of bureaucracy?
Argues modern credentialing enforces ontological secularism through seemingly neutral procedures.
Comparative insight: Weber & IOK on rationalization?
Both diagnose domination of instrumental logic; Weber resigned, IOK proposes ethical re‑orientation.
Comparative insight: bureaucracy not inherently secular?
Ethical orientation, not structure, determines whether bureaucracy becomes an ‘iron cage’ or an instrument of renewal.
Synthesis: re‑rationalization concept?
Transform existing institutions by embedding Wertrationalität, sublating Weber’s rationalization rather than rejecting it.
Weber’s conceptual triad in one line?
Rationalization + Societalization → Bureaucracy (iron cage).
