This survey course studies administrative organizations and voluntary associations; major social institutions in industry, government, religion, and education.

What do organizations do? Are they weighed down by bureaucracy ("red tape")? Are they individual agents, that have beliefs and act, like people? Whether we think of it in this way or not, we "theorize" about what organizations do and why they do it. This course will explore ways that sociologists systematically theorize about organizations. It takes the position that, in sociologist Charles Perrow's words, we live in an "organization society", where organizations are the fundamental building blocks of the social order. We will consider three major sociological perspectives of organizational behavior—the demographic, relational, and cultural perspectives; understand how organizations lie behind many of society's most pressing problems; but also understand how organizing is the best bet for changing society for the better.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills