The Individual and Bureaucracy: An Alternative Meadian Interpretation

The dominant Western moral orientation of individualism that leaves organizations morally unaccountable is challenged. Mead's contrary conceptualization of the social mind and its unique process of reflectivity is explored. How organizations constrain human thinking and how individuals, as reflective agents, create means of protecting themselves are discussed on the basis of the idea that a dialectical tension exists between individuals and organizations. Therefore, organizations must also be held morally accountable. It is the failure of present-day moral theory to address the individual/organization relationship that makes it impossible to confront moral issues in a meaningful way. If individuals and organizations cannot be reduced to one another, then the moral accountability of each must be addressed. This solid use of sociological theory to address moral issues has profound implications for scholars, practitioners, and citizens.