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Sociology vocabulary · Social Change and Globalisation

Rationalisation

Meaning in sociology, with examples

/ˌræʃənəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/nounCommon term

In sociology, rationalisation means: The historical process, described by Weber, in which tradition, emotion and magic give way to calculation, efficiency, rules and scientific reasoning in more and more areas of life.

In Turkish: rasyonelleşme, akılcılaşma

How it is used

Linked to Weber's ideas of disenchantment and the iron cage, and updated by George Ritzer's McDonaldization thesis. In psychology, rationalisation means inventing acceptable reasons for one's behaviour, which is a different meaning.

Example sentences

  1. Ritzer saw fast-food restaurants as an extreme case of rationalisation.

  2. Weber feared that rationalisation would trap people in an iron cage of rules.

Common collocations

  • process of rationalisation
  • Weber's theory of rationalisation
  • rationalisation of work
  • McDonaldization
  • bureaucracyA large organisation run through a hierarchy of offices, written rules, specialised tasks and impersonal procedures, as described by Max Weber.
  • modernityThe type of society that emerged in Europe from around the eighteenth century, marked by industrialisation, urbanisation, the nation-state, science and a belief in progress.
  • ideal typeA simplified model that brings together the typical features of a social phenomenon, used by researchers as a yardstick for comparing real cases.
  • secularisationThe process by which religion loses social influence, so that religious institutions, beliefs and practices play a smaller role in public life and in individual lives.

More terms: Social Change and Globalisation

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