Philip Selznick

Philip Selznick (born January 8, 1919 in Newark , New Jersey , † June 12, 2010 in Berkeley , California ) was an American lawyer and sociologist, Professor Emeritus at Berkeley University and co-founder of the Research Committee on Sociology of Law .

General work

His Ph.D. Selznick received in 1947 at Columbia University , where he was a student of Robert K. Mertons . He was involved in early organizational sociology . Influences from Robert Michels (bureaucratized oligarchy with a monopoly of power and knowledge) reveal a pessimistic scientist: “Selznick starts from the assumption that the gradual removal of the original goals (the organization, note) resulting from the tyranny of the means is universal There is a tendency and can only be partially averted. ” Alvin W. Gouldner therefore accused him of“ metaphysical pathos ”in 1955, because he adhered to Michel's iron law of oligarchy .

The bureaucracy -term should influence the organization researchers ". The theme of bureaucracy which, of course, very central to us these days (...)" When a dysfunctional effect of bureaucracy he sees in An Approach to a Theory of Bureaucracy to, that "departments set their own goals that can run counter to the goals of the bureaucracy." During the war years of 1942 and 1943, he conducted research at the government organization Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), where he analyzed the bureaucratic administrative apparatus; afterwards "Selznick seems to give up his pessimism a little (...) and (this) is contrasted by the image of creative leadership ." In 1961 Selznick was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

Some of his students also wrote empirical studies of third sector organizations : Charles Perrow studied a volunteer-run hospital, Mayer N. Zald and Patricia Denton the YMCA , Burton R. Clark a community college, and Joseph R. Gusfield the Woman's Christian Temperance Union .

Theory of cooptation

In his study by the TVA, Selznick defines cooptation as follows: "the process of absorbing new elements into the leadership or policy-determining structure of an organization as a means of averting threats to its stability or existence." He distinguishes between formal and informal cooptation. The former arises “due to a lack of grassroots consent”; The aim is therefore to increase the consensus for upcoming decisions. As an example, he cites the " colonial history , where it happened that the colonial leadership accepted representatives of the indigenous population into the local administration."

The aim of informal co-optation is to avert danger from external forces. For this purpose, demands from external forces are taken into account at the expense of the original objectives. In the TVA informal co-optation took place “mainly under pressure from the lobby of the large landowners”.

In Foundations of the Theory of Organization , also a chapter in TVA and the Grass Roots , he specifies the theoretical statements of his field study: He postulates that organizations themselves have basic needs, the satisfaction of which ensures the survival of the organization. The core of his structural-functionalist analysis is to examine the unexpected consequences that result from organizational action.

Leadership

Selznick regards leadership as a " creative activity" which is essentially characterized by four functions:

• Establishing the institutional task and role
• The institutional incorporation of the goal
• Maintaining institutional integrity
• The resolution of internal conflicts

With this view of leadership, Selznick's organizations are no longer viewed only as “objects of constraints and external pressure”, but also as active agents who are able to formulate goals, pursue them and assert values. Later, in Leadership in Administration , he sees the probably most important aspect of institutionalization in “ the infusion with value beyond the technical requirements of the task at hand. "

Legal sociology

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As a legal sociologist , he founded the Center for the Study of Law & Society at Berkeley University in 1961.

Fonts

• An Approach to a Theory of Bureaucracy. In: American Sociological Review 1943, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 47-54.
• Foundations of the Theory of Organization. In: American Sociological Review 1948, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 25-35.
• TVA and the Grass Roots: A Study in the Sociology of Formal Organization. University of California Press, 1949 (Harper & Row 1966).
• The Organizational Weapon: A Study of Bolshevik Strategy and Tactics. McGraw-Hill 1952.
• Sociology. A text with adapted reading. with Leonard Broom, Evanston 1955.
• Leadership in Administration. A Sociological Interpretation. Harper & Row 1957.
• Law, Society and Industrial Justice. Russell Sage Publications Berkeley 1969.
• The Moral Commonwealth: Social Theory and the Promise of Community. University of California Press, 1992.
• Institutionalism "Old" and "New". In: ASQ 1996, Vol. 41 No. 2, pp. 270-277.

literature

• Alvin W. Gouldner: Metaphysical Pathos and the Theory of Bureaucracy , In: American Political Science Review 1955, Vol. 49, pp. 496-507.
• Roger Cotterell: Selznick Interviewed: Philip Selznick in Conversation with Roger Cotterell , In: Journal of Law and Society Vol. 31, No. 3 2004, pp. 291-317.
• Giuseppe Bonazzi: History of organizational thinking , ed. Veronika Tacke, VS Verlag 2008, pp. 205–219.

Web links

• Faculty interview at Berkeley University with Philip Selznick, video
• Center for the Study of Law & Society, University of Berkeley

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Philip Selznick, leading scholar in sociology and law, dies at 91.
2. ^ Richard Scott : Institutions and Organizations , 2nd ed., Sage 2001: p. 17.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Giuseppe Bonazzi: History of organizational thinking , ed. Veronika Tacke, VS Verlag 2008: p. 206.
4. ↑ Alvin W. Gouldner: Metaphysical Pathos and the Theory of Bureaucracy , In: American Political Science Review 1955, Vol. 49, pp. 496-507.
5. ↑ Roger Cotterell: Selznick Interviewed: Philip Selznick in Conversation with Roger Cotterell , In: Journal of Law and Society Vol. 31, No. 3 2004: p. 292.
6. ^ Alfred Kieser , Mark Ebers: Organizationstheorien , Kohlhammer 2006: 6th edition, p. 90.
7. ↑ Richard Scott: Institutions and Organizations , 2nd ed., Sage 2001: 19.
8. ^ Charles Perrow : The Analysis of Goals in Complex Organizations , In: American Sociological Review Vol. 26, No. 6 1961: pp. 854-66.
9. ↑ Mayer N. Zald, Patricia Denton: From Evangelism to General Service: The Transformation of the YMCA , In: Administrative Science Quarterly Vol. 8, No. 2 1963: pp. 214-34.
10. ^ Burton R. Clark: The Open Door College: A Case Study , McGraw-Hill 1960.
11. ↑ Joseph R. Gusfield: Social Structure and Moral Reform: A Study of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union , In: American Journal of Sociology Vol. 61, No. 3 1955: pp. 221-32.
12. ^ Philip Selznick: TVA and the Grass Roots: A Study in the Sociology of Formal Organization. Harper & Row 1966: p. 13.
13. ^ Giuseppe Bonazzi: History of organizational thinking , ed. Veronika Tacke, VS Verlag 2008: p. 209 f.
14. ^ Philip Selznick: Foundations of the Theory of Organization. In: American Sociological Review 1948, Vol. 13 No. 1, p. 29.
15. ^ Giuseppe Bonazzi: History of organizational thinking , ed. Veronika Tacke, VS Verlag 2008: p. 213.
16. ^ Giuseppe Bonazzi: History of organizational thinking , ed. Veronika Tacke, VS Verlag 2008: p. 216 f.
17. ^ Philip Selznick: Institutionalism "Old" and "New". In: ASQ 41, p. 271.
18. ↑ Center for the Study of Law & Society ( Memento of the original dated August 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 22, 2009.