CULTURE INDUSTRY AND SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

Introduction

            The culture industry is a term coined by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer. The two critical theorists presented the term as critical vocabulary in the chapter of the Dialectic Enlightenment book of 1944. According to the words of the two theorists, popular culture is similar to a factory producing standardized cultural goods such as magazines, films, and radio programs among others. These goods are used in the manipulation of mass society into passivity. Additionally, people consuming the easy pleasures of the popular culture easily availed by the mass communication media makes people content and docile regardless of the difficulties of their economic circumstances. This paper will examine the concept of technological (or instrumental) rationality and how it has come to form the basis of the dominant ideology in our society. Next, the paper will select a current news article and describe how it either supports or refutes the notion that the culture industry administers mass deception.

Technological Rationality Concept

            The concept of technological rationality is immensely mentioned by Marcuse. In his work, Marcuse explained that technological rationality is the embodiment of rationality within technology. By this, he means that technology has some rationality capable of directing its course. Simply technological rationality refers to some ways in which physical mechanisms as well as technologies through which people interact contain in their designs and uses logics that make people feel inevitable and unavoidable. Additionally, it creates people’s choices. Since the term technological rationality was coined, the concept has become pertinent to communication research in the modern society. The technological advancements have been manipulating the environment in which it plays thus changing the environment (Feenberg, 2002).

            The concept of technological rationality has a come a long way thus forming the basis of the dominant ideology in the society in which we live. The dominant ideology in our society refers to the attitudes, beliefs, morals, and values that majority of the people in the society share. Dominant ideology is, therefore, a mechanism of social control. In the same way, dominant ideology denotes how most of the people in the society think about the nature of the society, their place in this society, and how they are connected to social class. In simple terms, the dominant ideology refers to a system of morals and values established by the ruling class to control the working class (Feenberg, 2002).

            Technological rationality offers the ruling class the most effective way of silencing critics. This, therefore, becomes a justification on the very terms of the likely critique. When the ruling class rationally justifies an action using technology, reason cannot easily deny its legitimacy. In the world of dominant ideology, the beliefs and concepts informing technological rationality have gone on to be used by the ruling class as the reality which shapes social life in a more general way thus giving them a chance to rule. Using the technological rationality, the ruling class can easily provide the common-sense knowledge which all groups comprehensively understand the nature of the society and the relationship between them and the ruling class (Adorno & Horkheimer, 2002).

Recent Article

            According to a recent article, the man with leisure should easily accept what the manufacturers of the culture are offering him. Such a man who was thought to be easily relating to the varied experiences of the senses to the fundamental concepts should contribute to the society. However, the culture industry has robbed the man his fundamental functions. Referring to a passive medium like television, the forced acceptance has been viewed as a manifestation of the negative industry hegemony which easily robs the man of his fundamental functions. Man needs to embrace the web technology. However, the same man has not been rendered passive by the culture industry. The man still accepts everything being offered. However, what the culture industry offers is the tools through which he can make his opinions be heard. The article strongly supports that the notion of the culture industry administers mass deception. In the current times, the substance of a person has remained locked up within himself. Additionally, the intellectual acts of the man are not intrinsically connected with their human essence because of the culture industry. The human takes whatever the course of the situation dictates to them (Adorno & Horkheimer, 2002).

Conclusion

            According to Marcuse, technology’s ends should not be changed while leaving it. This would mean that the task will be futile because of the non-neutrality of the technology. Therefore, while attempting to reconfigure the direction of the technology, people must always consider the technical means. The logic of technological rationality is based on the project of social domination. This benefits the private owners while controlling the means of production. The private owners refer to the ruling class who control means of production for their sake. The paper has discussed culture industry and sociological theory. Additionally, the paper has shown ways in which culture industry helps in administering mass deception of the people which is the people being ruled.

  References

Adorno, T.W. & Horkheimer, M. (2002). Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical fragments.      Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Feenberg, A. (2002). Heidegger and Marcuse: The catastrophe and redemption of history. New    York: Routledge.

  Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in college research paper services if you need a similar paper you can place your order for best essay services online.