300092 Micro-Translating Formal Organization (S) (WiSe 2007/2008)

With the advance of microsociology since the 1960s, microtranslation has become a prominent catch-phrase in the discourse of sociological theory. The idea of microtranslation is to test the explanatory power of meso- and macrostatements about organizations and society, their respective structures, cultures, norms etc. in investigating participants' actual behavior in social situations. Sociological research on organizations is an obvious target for this kind of theory-building strategy.
There a two ways in which the microtranslation strategy may be put to work within the sociology of organizations:

• Theories of organization may be scanned for specific concepts lending themselves to microtranslation.
• Microsociologically oriented studies may be scanned for insights about the extent to which microrealities (social situations, interaction orders, conversations etc.) are subject to ordering by organizational structures.

The required reading for the seminar will provide opportunities for exploring both approaches, and some willingness among participants to experiment with sociological and organizational theory is very much solicited.
Addtionally, a number of practical interests in looking at organizational microrealities have been articulated within the broader field of organization studies: What are the organizational microprocesses associated with the production of economic value ¿ granted that contemporary spatially fragmented and knowledge-intensive work environments have made these processes more difficult to identify and control? How do other microprocesses interfere with those critical for the success of a business firm or, more fundamentally, for organizational survival? How has traditional theorizing about organizations tended to think about organizational microstructures and to what extent can such thinking be revised or complemented by microsociological approaches and insights? To what extend are organizations effective in microtranslating themselves (their expectations, standards and technologies) into social situations and interactions among their members?
It is tempting to interlink such questions with those posed by contemporary sociological theorizing, and the course will try to microtranslate these discursive openings into lively seminar discussions.

Bibliography

Collins, Randall, 1981: On the Microfoundations of Macrosociology. American Journal of Sociology 86: 984-1014
Goffman, Erving, 1972: Asyle: Über die soziale Situation psychiatrischer Patienten und anderer Insassen. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp