Study Questions

  1. How often during the week do you experience “red tape?” Where do you expect to experience it? Why?
     
  2. Have you ever dealt with a teacher who has a “bureaucratic personality?” How did it impact your learning in the classroom?
     
  3. What do you think of the position of WikiLeaks that revealing the secrets of nation-states strengthens democracy?
     
  4. Do you think eBayization is replacing McDonaldization? Why or why not?
     
  5. What does Beck mean when he asserts we have moved from an industrial society to a “risk society?”
     
  6. Explain the five types of landscapes discussed in the text. Give examples.
     
  7. Explain how most of the major religions in the world began as charismatic authority, then became combinations of traditional and rational-legal authority.
     
  8. Which type of Toennies’ societies would you prefer to live in: gemeinschaft or gesellschaft? Why? Give specific examples.