Organizing America: Wealth, Power, and the Origins of Corporate Capitalism [Hardcover]

Charles Perrow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 2002

American society today is shaped not nearly as much by vast open spaces as it is by vast, bureaucratic organizations. Over half the working population toils away at enterprises with 500 or more employees - up from 0 percent in 1800. Is this institutional immensity the logical outcome of technological forces in an all-efficient market, as some have argued? In this book, the first organizational history of nineteenth-century America, Yale sociologist Charles Perrow says no. He shows that there was nothing inevitable about the surge in corporate size and power by century's end. Critics railed against the nationalizing of the economy, against corporations' monopoly powers, political subversion, environmental destruction, and "wage slavery." How did a nation committed to individual freedom, family firms, public goods, and decentralized power become transformed in one century? Bountiful resources, a mass market, and the industrial revolution gave entrepreneurs broad scope. In Europe, the state and the church kept private organizations small and required consideration of the public good. In America, the courts and business-steeped legislators removed regulatory constraints over the century, centralizing industry and privatizing the railroads. Despite resistance, the corporate form became the model for the next century. Bureaucratic structure spread to government and the nonprofits. Writing in the tradition of Max Weber, Perrow concludes that the driving force of our history is not technology, politics, or culture, but large, bureaucratic organizations. Perrow, the author of award-winning books on organizations, employs his witty, trenchant, and graceful style here to maximum effect. Colorful vignettes abound; today's headlines echo past battles for unchecked organizational freedom; socially responsible alternatives that were tried are explored along with the historical contingencies that sent us down one road rather than another. No other book takes the role of organizations in America's development as seriously. The resultant insights presage a new historical genre.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Organizing America is a provocative and passionate account of the nineteenth century origins of modern American corporate governance and its far-reaching effects. It is highly appropriate for our times. -- Review

A provocative and passionate account of the nineteenth century origins of modern American corporate governance and its far-reaching effects. -- Michael H. Best, The Journal of Economic History

Clearly and cogently expressed . . . The passionate intensity of the author and the lack of obfuscation in his arguments are refreshing. -- Gerald Zahavi , American Historical Review

From the Publisher

Winner of 2003 Max Weber Award --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press; First Edition edition (March 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 069108954X
• ISBN-13: 978-0691089546
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,285,579 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended!, September 23, 2005

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Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Organizing America: Wealth, Power, and the Origins of Corporate Capitalism (Hardcover)

You may never have given a second thought to the very existence of the Fortune 500, but author and academic Charles Perrow has. In this eye-opening sociological account, he argues that the huge organizations that dominate today's business world in the United States would have been unthinkable to the nation's Founding Fathers, who viewed centralized money and power with great suspicion. Perrow's fascinating study points out the importance of big organizations in shaping American society. Yet for all his sweeping - and well-reasoned - arguments, Perrow focuses only on a couple of diminished industries. Still, this intriguing work is an important read for responsible corporate citizens. We recommend this social history to those leaders who want American corporations to be more than profit-making machines.