Weber on Education and Refugee

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 Sarah Elgohary

Soc 18a

Max Weber on Education and Refugee Inequality


Across the globe, millions of children face barriers to education due to displacement, poverty, and war. Refugees and orphans in Palestine, Sudan, Lebanon, and among the Syrian population are some of the most severely affected by educational inequality. While education is often described as the great equalizer, this is not the reality for many displaced children. Sociologist Max Weber’s theories—particularly those on rationalization, bureaucracy, social action, and legitimate domination—offer a powerful framework for understanding the structural challenges that prevent these children from accessing quality education.https://goodwillcaravan.com/sponsor-an-orphan/


Rationalization and Bureaucracy in Refugee Education

Max Weber argued that modern institutions, including education, become increasingly rationalized, governed by efficiency, control, and predictability (Ritzer, 1994). Schools today operate as bureaucracies with strict hierarchies, standardized curricula, and impersonal rules. While this rationalization is intended to promote fairness and efficiency, it often leads to what Weber called the “iron cage” of bureaucracy—systems that trap individuals in structures that dehumanize and marginalize them (Weber, 1978).


In refugee contexts, this rationalization manifests in harmful ways. For instance, Palestinian refugee students under UNRWA schooling systems face overcrowded classrooms, underfunded infrastructure, and curricula that are often politically restricted to comply with donor requirements (Al-Hroub, 2015). Although the system appears efficient on paper, it fails to meet the unique social, psychological, and educational needs of displaced children, demonstrating what Ritzer (1994) calls “the irrationality of rationality.”


Similarly, in Lebanon, Syrian refugee children struggle to access public education due to language barriers, bureaucratic enrollment requirements, and limited space in schools. Many are placed in second-shift schools with reduced hours and limited resources (Human Rights Watch, 2022). The bureaucratic structure—designed for local populations—excludes the needs of marginalized groups. These examples show how Weber’s theory applies: education systems become so formalized that they fail to accommodate non-dominant groups like refugees.


Social Action and the Experience of Orphans and Displaced Children

Weber’s concept of social action refers to behavior that considers the actions and reactions of others and has subjective meaning to the actor (Weber, 1978). Education is a form of social action because it is shaped by collective expectations and individual goals. However, for refugee children and orphans, their ability to act meaningfully within the educational system is deeply constrained by their social and economic positions.


For example, in Sudan, orphans and internally displaced children often rely on informal or community-based schools. Many must work during the day, take care of siblings, or migrate repeatedly, interrupting their ability to pursue stable education (UNICEF, 2023). Their participation in education is shaped more by survival needs than long-term planning, making it an instrumentally rational action—driven by necessity rather than value or tradition (Weber, 1978). These children's education decisions are made with calculation and adaptation in a context of poverty and instability, which demonstrates Weber’s point about social action being shaped by environment and meaning.


Syrian refugees in Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon also experience education primarily through instrumental and traditional forms of action. Parents enroll their children when possible, not necessarily because of educational ideals, but due to pressure from aid organizations, host governments, or because “that’s what people do” (UNHCR, 2022). These educational experiences lack the value-rational orientation Weber idealized—one grounded in meaningful self-development—because systemic barriers prevent refugees from experiencing school as anything more than a bureaucratic checkpoint.


Legitimate Domination and Access to Educational Power

Weber identified three types of legitimate authority: traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal. The modern education system operates primarily under rational-legal authority—a form of power based on laws, formal rules, and bureaucratic structures (Calhoun et al., 2012). In theory, such systems should ensure equal access and merit-based achievement. However, in practice, rational-legal authority tends to favor those already embedded in dominant cultures or possessing social capital.


For example, the Lebanese education system requires legal residency documentation, proper academic records, and fluency in French or English for full integration into public schools—criteria that many Syrian refugees cannot meet. Thus, the rational-legal structure excludes them from access, despite its formal neutrality (Human Rights Watch, 2022). Weber's warning that bureaucracy can become disconnected from human needs is clearly evident here.


Similarly, in Gaza, Palestinian refugee children face regular school closures due to Israeli airstrikes, political violence, and lack of infrastructure. These systemic disruptions are not merely logistical—they reflect the broader exclusion of Palestinians from state power and legitimate authority structures (UNESCO, 2021). Their education becomes subordinated to geopolitical calculations, rather than being seen as a universal right.


Conclusion

Max Weber’s theories on rationalization, bureaucracy, social action, and legitimate domination provide a powerful lens to understand educational inequality among refugees and orphans in Palestine, Sudan, Lebanon, and Syria. The bureaucratization of education systems, meant to enhance equality and efficiency, instead reinforces marginalization when they ignore the lived realities of displaced populations. For these children, education is not a path of empowerment but a system they must navigate for survival—often without support, representation, or inclusion. To address these inequalities, international and local education systems must rehumanize their structures, incorporate substantive rationality, and recognize education as a social right, not just a procedural formality.


References

Al-Hroub, A. (2015). Education for Palestinian refugees: An overview. Palestine–Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture, 20(1), 79–87.


Calhoun, C., Gerteis, J., Moody, J., Pfaff, S., & Virk, I. (2012). Classical sociological theory (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.


Human Rights Watch. (2022). Lebanon: Education crisis puts Syrian refugee children at risk. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/11/03/lebanon-education-crisis-puts-syrian-refugee-children-risk


Ritzer, G. (1994). The McDonaldization of society. Pine Forge Press.


UNESCO. (2021). Gaza’s education system is on the brink after the May conflict. Retrieved from https://en.unesco.org/news/gazas-education-system-brink


UNHCR. (2022). Education: The key to a better future for refugee children. Retrieved from https://www.unhcr.org/education.html


UNICEF. (2023). Education in emergencies: Sudan. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/sudan/education-emergencies


Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology (G. Roth & C. Wittich, Eds.). University of Canada 








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