Organizational Society Revisited: From Archetype to New Forms of Organization

Abstract Organizational sociology focuses heavily on organizations and interorganizational structures. However, the societal effects of organizations tend to be neglected in this research context. This article aims to provide the conceptual groundwork for overcoming this situation. It discusses the concept of “organizational society,” developed in the second half of the 20th century, where impacts of organizations on social structure and societal development were a core focus. A common issue in this research was its focus on a specific organizational form: bureaucratic structures, which are typically large and characterized by a division of labor. We refer to this organizational form as an archtype and contend that its dominance is increasingly questioned in the 21st century. Building on this, the article proposes incorporating new forms of organization and it particularly considers hyper-organization, partial organization, and platform organization. Conceptualizations of these new forms of organization, however, have two weaknesses: First, they assume the archetype has been replaced by either hyper-organization, partial organization, or platform organization, neglecting both the persistence of the archetype and the heterogeneity of new organizational forms. Second, they inadequately address the societal preconditions and consequences of new organizational forms. The paper concludes with prospects of overcoming these weaknesses.