The principle of provenance as the principle of rationalization of archives

Abstract

The subject of this article is to look at the emergence of the principle of provenance through the prism of the rationalization theories described by Max Weber and Karl Mannheim. Although this is not the first time the subject of the genesis of the principle of provenance and its importance for the development of archives is taken up, it is probably the first attempt to present this topic through the prism of sociological rationalization theories. This article also contributes to a further, broader look at archives through the prism of the macdonaldization theory described by Georg Ritzer, which is intended to show the development of archives in a globalizing world. One of the predecessors and pillars of macdonaldization is precisely bureaucracy. Such an approach allows the presentation of archives against the background of social changes taking place in the 20th and 21st centuries. The article is a theoretical study based on the analysis of the literature on the subject.