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Title: Politics of schism: routinization and social control in the International Socialists/Socialist Workers' Party

Abstract

The received wisdom of social science holds that voluntary organizations founded on egalitarian principles, can only survive by undergoing transformation into hierarchical systems. The underlying logic of Weber, Michels and Toennies' descriptions is that social organizations sustain themselves over time by generating increasingly complex systems of rules that become sources of inequality. This article argues that routinization in voluntary groups does not consist of a gradual accumulation of rules that promote internal inequality. Instead, two analytically distinct steps are proposed: (1) construction of a distinctive organizational boundary, which is a necessary condition for (2) the ultimate imposition of a complex organizational hierarchy. The case used to illustrate this argument is drawn from the history of the British Trotskyist movement prior to 1978. The argument itself is framed within a formal model of the sociology of knowledge called grid/group analysis.

Authors:
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
OSTI Identifier:
5760093
Report Number(s):
DOE/OR/21400-T101
ON: DE85008358
DOE Contract Number:  
AC05-84OR21400
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE; ORGANIZATIONAL MODELS; SOCIOLOGY; POLITICAL ASPECTS; INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS; 990000* - General & Miscellaneous

Citation Formats

Rayner, S. Politics of schism: routinization and social control in the International Socialists/Socialist Workers' Party. United States: N. p., 1985. Web.
Rayner, S. Politics of schism: routinization and social control in the International Socialists/Socialist Workers' Party. United States.
Rayner, S. 1985. "Politics of schism: routinization and social control in the International Socialists/Socialist Workers' Party". United States.
@article{osti_5760093,
title = {Politics of schism: routinization and social control in the International Socialists/Socialist Workers' Party},
author = {Rayner, S},
abstractNote = {The received wisdom of social science holds that voluntary organizations founded on egalitarian principles, can only survive by undergoing transformation into hierarchical systems. The underlying logic of Weber, Michels and Toennies' descriptions is that social organizations sustain themselves over time by generating increasingly complex systems of rules that become sources of inequality. This article argues that routinization in voluntary groups does not consist of a gradual accumulation of rules that promote internal inequality. Instead, two analytically distinct steps are proposed: (1) construction of a distinctive organizational boundary, which is a necessary condition for (2) the ultimate imposition of a complex organizational hierarchy. The case used to illustrate this argument is drawn from the history of the British Trotskyist movement prior to 1978. The argument itself is framed within a formal model of the sociology of knowledge called grid/group analysis.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5760093}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1985},
month = {Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1985}
}

Technical Report:
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