Beyond the iron cage of bureaucracy: hyperrationality and social work

The concept of rationality has been well explored in social theory but has not received much attention in the social work academe. This paper considers the significance of the concept for social work arguing that an eclectic rationality - as expressed in the term, 'hyperrationality' - overcomes the pitfalls inherent within bureaucratic practice while restoring the importance of tacit and theoretical knowledge and social work values. The argument develops from a critical appraisal of the work of four of the leading social theorists of rationality in the modern world: Weber, Habermas, Ritzer and Bauman. Far from dismissing rationality as the conceptual precursor to oppression. the paper supports the attempt to retain an expanded notion of rationality as the cornerstone of the enlightenment project.