2. Social Action / Interpretivist Theories (unit2) Flashcards
What is Mead’s view?
Mead believed that social action (how people behave and interact) is shaped by social interactions. He argued that:
The Self is Built Through Interaction: We develop our sense of self by interacting with others and understanding their perspectives.
Symbols and Meaning Matter: People use symbols, like language and gestures, to communicate, and our actions are based on the meanings we give to these symbols.
Thinking Happens in a Social Context: Our thoughts aren’t just individual; they develop through communication with others.
We’re Social Beings: Individuals don’t exist in isolation—they are always part of social relationships that influence their behaviour.
So, Mead believed social action is driven by how people interact, share meanings, and shape each other’s understanding of the world.
What is Blumer’s view?
Blumer, a key figure in the development of symbolic interactionism, built on George Herbert Mead’s ideas and outlined three core principles that guide social action:
People Act Based on the Meaning Things Have for Them: Blumer believed that people’s actions are influenced by the meanings they attach to things, situations, or other people. These meanings aren’t fixed—they’re created and adjusted through social interactions.
Meaning is Created Through Social Interaction: Like Mead, Blumer argued that meanings don’t exist in isolation; they are developed and changed through communication and interaction between people. We don’t just act based on fixed meanings, but continuously negotiate and redefine them.
Meaning is Modified Through an Interpretive Process: When people act, they interpret and adjust their actions based on the ongoing social interactions they have with others. This means that meanings are not static, but are dynamic and evolve over time.
In short, Blumer emphasized that social action is not just a response to external stimuli, but is driven by how individuals interpret and negotiate meanings through their social interactions.
Are social action theories more deterministic or voluntaristic?
Voluntaristic - – they see
individuals as having free will and choice. People’s actions
are not determined by society. Instead, people possess
agency – we can shape society through our choices and
ideas.
Cooley - The looking glass self:
how we develop our self concept. Through interactions, we come to see ourselves how others would see us. self fulfilling prophecy = become what others see us as, even if not true.
Becker (labelling theory) :
Being labelled as deviant may produce a self-fulfilling prophecy whereby the label becomes the individuals’ master status.
AO2: DEVIANCE AMPLIFICATION SPIRAL
Goffman (dramaturgical model) :
He suggests that people actively construct our ‘self’ by manipulating other people’s impressions of us.
-We have autonomy and the ability to be voluntarist and shape our own ‘self’ by manipulating other people’s impressions of us.
-We are all ‘actors’, acting out ‘scripts’, using ‘props’ and resting backstage between ‘performances’.
Goffman (impression management) :
We have to control our appearance – impression management refers to attempts
by individuals to give a particular impression of themselves to others in order to
receive a desired response.
Evaluation of symbolic interactionism:
Too much of a focus on face-to-face interactions and ignores wider social structures such as class inequality. Cannot explain consistent patterns in people’s behaviour (like Functionalists and Marxists can)
Ignore the ORIGIN OF MEANINGS – something that Feminists + Marxists attempt to explain (e.g. class conflict / gender conflict)
Goffman’s theory – loads of our actions are unrehearsed!
Garfinkel
Indexicality means : Nothing has a fixed meaning , everything is dependent on context.
Reflixicality means : Th use of common sense knowledge everyday to interpret everyday situations to construct a sense of meaning and order.
Weber’s sociology (verstehen)
He argues that researchers should try to put themselves in the shoes of those they are studying to attempt to see the world through their eyes, and therefore discover the meanings behind their actions.
EVAL: Verstehen = it is never possible to truly put yourself into the shoes of
another person, therefore we cannot really know or understand their
motives.
Giddens theory of structuration (duality of structure)
structures only exist because of people’s action, and people can only act because the structures enable meaningful action to take place.
-Structuration and the duality of structure refer to the two-way process by
which people are constrained or shaped by society and institutions, but
these structures can only exist as long as people continue to take action
to either support them or change them
-This change occurs through reflexivity – whereby people are constantly
reflecting on the things they do and how they do them as they live their
daily lives
Evaluation of integrated approaches
…
Evaluation of social action theories as a whole :
-It doesn’t pay sufficient attention to the structures of society, such as power, social class, gender and ethnic inequalities which constraint individual behaviour. People don’t have free choices – poverty, racism etc is REAL, not a SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION.
-Functionalists would argue that there is no negotiation of actions = socialisation and social control ensure that people conform to societies norms and act in a
predictable and fixed way, maintaining a value consensus.
-Postmodernists would suggest that action theory is as much a metanarrative as any other theory that claims to provide a full explanation of social life. Action theory is
just one of many competing points of view all of which provide equally valid insights
into society.
