ABSTRACT
The analysis of the dynamic process of formal rationalization is the master theme in the work of Max Weber. Most analyses of the self-propelled process of rationalization in the work of Weber have to do with the inner logic of religious ethics that led to the formation of the spirit of capitalism. Both capitalism and state socialism have resulted in systems of economic and political rationalization that have led to ecological irrationality: the perverse, largely unintended consequence of the development of a parasitic relationship with nature. The pursuit of the means of mastering nature, and of attempting to foresee and calculate consequences, have been important parts of the process of rationalization. Rationalization consists of several dynamic institutional components. Sociology has been part of the process of Western rationalization and has shared its ecologically irrational premises of the plasticity of nature and of dualism between humans and nature.
