Who Said It?
"There is no clock, no window, no fragment of the world outside."
Charlie LeDuff (At a Slaughterhouse)
Follow up: what kind of picture does this quote give about the Slaughterhouse? Is it good or bad?
In the Slaughter House, the Whites, Blacks, Indians, and Mexicans all have their separate stations. What is this an example of? Is this based from Weber or Marx?
Bureaucracy. Weber
"By the time Natividad went to bed that night, Google and Facebook had data about which Mt. SAC webpages he’d visited, and a company called Instructure had gathered information for his professors about how much time he’d spent looking at readings for his classes and whether he had read messages about his courses. Campus police and a company called T2 Systems potentially had information about what kind of car he was driving and where he parked."
What are some pros and cons of our information being gathered like this?
Answers may vary.
What is rationalization?
The idea that we are making things more precise, exact, or measured.
Who believed social class was solely based on economics?
Marx
"Man does not by nature wish to earn more and more money."
Weber
Follow up: what does this mean to you?
When the Slaughter House Hires mainly illegal Mexicans and pays them nothing compared to the Americans, what is this an example of?
A. Race to the Bottom
B. Alienation
C. Globalization
D. Rationalization
A. Race to the Bottom
“E-proctoring tools faced a stiff backlash when schools closed during COVID and sent test-taking online. Fight for the Future called the tech “glorified spyware” in an online campaign seeking to ban its use by colleges. Students with disabilities faced more frequent flags for potential cheating because of hand, eye, and body movements the software algorithms said were abnormal. Dark-skinned students reported not being able to take exams because the software wouldn’t register their faces as being present”.
How does this quote relate to Weber's ideas?
Rationalization. Online schooling was made to make it easier and quicker, but as you can see, it has caused more issues. Answers may vary.
What is materialism?
Explaining the world using only things from this world.
Which historical figure was highly against religion?
Marx
"Trapping of individuals in the Iron Cage."
Weber
The Slaughter House Company sells millions of pounds of meat and distributes food all over the world in a year. What is this an example of?
Globalization
“Natividad has spent more than a year discussing his concerns with student leaders and college employees at all levels of the institution”.
What kind of organization method does this quote represent? What makes it that kind of organization? (what are the qualities of this organization method?)
Bureaucracy. This is showing different levels at the college. Answers may vary.
What is bureauacracy?
Who saw Capitalism dominance as meritable?
Weber
"Workers of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your chains."
Marx
Follow up: What do you think he meant by 'chains'?
Give me 3 different examples of alienation from the Slaughterhouse article.
Answers may vary.
“In the past, professors have allowed Natividad to stick with paper textbooks, but he now must submit to the additional data tracking of e-books for a required course. Professors sometimes mandate digital textbooks because they want students to complete interactive assignments contained in them”. What idea does this quote represent? Did Weber like this idea or not? Why?
Rationalization (irrational rationalization). He did not like this idea. He felt it "demystifies or disenchants the world".
Ideas and beliefs shape the world.
How does Max Weber relate to Sociology?
"If you want to pass this class or pass this test, you have to willingly give up a lot of your information and then hope that nothing happens."
Juan Cruz (He Wanted Privacy)
Give me an example of irrational Rationalization from the Slaughterhouse reading.
Answers may vary.
"Still, whether living on campus or off, taking classes in person or remotely, students simply cannot opt out of most data collection and still pursue a degree. For many students, that’s not a problem. They generally trust their institutions and see the online elements of higher education as convenient. Putting up with data collection seems like a necessary cost."
Why would these things not raise a concern for some students? Do you think it should raise concern or not? Why?
Answers may vary.
What is irrational rationalization?
The things that were supposed to make things easier actually make things more difficult.
What religious sect did Max Weber focus on?
Protestantism