ABSTRACT
Perhaps the most striking feature of the social organization of modem life is the extent to
which it is arranged by means of hierarchical bureaucratic institutions. In every walk of
life jobs are structured by rank in an ascending ladder. In business this is universal; a
company’s employees occupy jobs defined in a pyramidal table of organization. Academic employment is no different. Government service is equally structured. Even in
those professions where a high degree of self-employment remains, the professional
organizations themselves are constituted in a hierarchical fashion and sometimes
—formally or informally-grade and rank their members. The primary motivation of an
employee or even a self-employed professional is to climb the job ladder, to win a
promotion. The pyramidal form of organization ensures that this will be a competitive
process. But this phenomenon is not confined to the sphere of employment. Political organizations, consumer and environmental groups, and housing cooperatives are also
constructed along similar lines, providing a chain of command running from the top
down, with a competitive promotion structure. (Note that this is in no way inconsistent
with the leadership being more or less democratically controlled by the membership.)
What has happened to the family firm? These hierarchies are mostly urban; where has the family farm gone? And where is the simple government of the nightwatchman state?
