Social Action Flashcards
Who founded the Social Action theory
Max weber
The argument behind Social Action Theory
social action theorists arguing that instead of the structures of society creating or determining the behaviour of people, people create or construct society and its institutions and structures.
What are Social Action theories
People are social actors – they have agency - and are responsible for their own actions.
Focuses upon the meanings and the interpretations that individuals assign to actions.
What was the argument put forward by Giddens criticising the idea of the structural theory being oppositely different from action theory.
Giddens “Theory of Structuration” (1979) sees structure and action theories as two sides of the same coin: structures make social action possible, but social action creates the structures - * Duality of structure*.
Who criticised Giddens arguement.
Archer (1982) or (1995), argue that he placed far too much emphasis on the individual’s ability to change social structure simply by acting differently.
Is Social Action theory a micro or macro sociology?
Micro sociology - seeing that society is constructed by the acts of individuals, rather than a top-down, structural approach.
identify and explain the two concepts invented by Goffman ( 1959) in relation to humans being actors in our everyday activities to assist us in the management of other people’s impression of us.
Some people will use ‘front’ to manage interaction. This refers to items of physical or body equipment that a social actor uses to enhance their performance – for example, teachers who want to convey authority may wear formal clothing to distance themselves from students.
Another concept is ‘region’ – the classroom is the front region where the teacher ‘performs’, while the staffroom is where they relax and become another person, such as a colleague or friend.
