Hierarchy and Organisation

Toward a General Theory of Hierarchical Social Systems

Thomas Diefenbach

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781138195066
• eBook ISBN: 9781135013400
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Most people take the conditions they work and live in as a given, believing it to be normal that societies are stratified and that organisations are hierarchical. Many even think that this is the way it should be - and are neither willing nor able to think that it could be otherwise. This book raises the awareness of hierarchy, its complexity and longevity. It focuses on a single but fundamental problem of social systems such as dyads, groups, organisations and whole societies: Why and how does hierarchical social order persist over time? In order to investigate the question, author Thomas Diefenbach develops a general theory of the persistence of hierarchical social order. This theory interrogates the problem of the persistence of hierarchical social order from very different angles, in multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary ways. Even more crucially, it traces the very causes of the phenomenon, the reasons and interests behind hierarchy as well as the various mechanisms which keep it going.

This is the first time such a theory is attempted. With the help of the theory developed in this book, it is possible to interrogate systematically, comprehensively and in detail how mindsets and behaviours as well as societal and organisational structures enable the continuation of hierarchy

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Routledge Studies in Management, Organizations, and Society
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Preface
• 1 Introduction
• 2 The Longevity of Hierarchy
• 3 A General Theory of Hierarchical Social Systems
• 4 Application of the Theory—How Hierarchy Works
• 5 Socrates—The Unnormal Normal Person Who Won by Losing
• 6 Why Things (Almost Always) Don't Change
• Appendix 1 Justification and Criticism of Hierarchical Social Order
• Appendix 2 Approaches and Theories Relevant for Hierarchical Social Systems
• Appendix 3 Definition of ‘Interest'
• Appendix 4 Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development
• Appendix 5 Main Theorems of the General Theory of Hierarchical Social Systems
• Notes
• References
• Index