social action theory Flashcards
key works
Max Weber - the protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism
Max Weber - economy and society
George Ritzer - The McDonalidisation of society
Goldthorpe et al - The Affluent Worker in the British Class structure
what is weberian theory
Max Weber - one of founding fathers of sociology
- developed social action theory - helped to create interpretivist approach - society does not exist independently of those who constitute it
believed that action should be understood on two level
- level of cause
- level of meaning
what is weberian theory eval
can be seen as focusing on the individual level
fails to solve the structure action debate
theory of verstehen seen as creating subjectivity in research
weber and social action
action carried out by individual to which a person attached a meaning
- unconscious reaction cannot be a social action
social action - an action that account for the existence and possible reactinos of others in society
developed concept of Verstehen
action = four different types
emergence of modern society was accompanied by important shifts in patterns of social action - people moving away from traditional beliefs to rational calculations
weber - four types of social interactions
affection action - direct result of emotion with no attention to goals or means
traditional action - action performed simply because it has always been done so
value-rational action - goal pursued for own sake, cannot be abandoned simply because it is difficult to achieve
instrumentally rational action - actor only acts if the goal is realistic and chooses the most efficient means to achieve it
weber and social action evaluation
weber underestimates the power of external social forces to constrain and determine behaviour
Shutz - Weber’s action theory is too individualistic and cannot explain how social actors arrive at shared meanings
weber and ideal types
weber’s discussion of social action is an example of the use of an ideal type - provides the basic method for historical-comparative study - logically consistent
analytical construct that serves as a form of measurement for social observations to determine extent to which concrete social institutions are similar and how they differ from some defined measure
eg ideal capitalism - used extensively in social science literature - private ownership of all potentially profitable activity, pursuit of profit
weber and ideal types evaluations
by nature, ideal types are intellectual constructs so are subjective
weber and power
interested in how power was manifested in society - rejected view conflict was limited to two groups and rejected utopian idea of communism where conflict eliminated forever
conflict occurred throughout society based upon class, status and party - economic power enabled those on top to have more influence but other groups able to exert influence
weber and power - 3 forms of stratification
social class - class was a social relationship as well as an economic one based on demographic and cultural similarities as well as employment relations
status - value attached to a role or person in society which gives them power and influence
party - membership of political organisations or parties that enables accumulation or direction of social power
weber and power - types of authority
traditional authority - particularistic rules and authority
rational-legal authority - codified in impersonal rules
charismatic
weber and power evaluation
marxist - weber underestimates impact of economic ownership on social organisation in terms of class
postmodernists - no longer class or status inequalities in society
functionalism - weber overestimate the amount of conflict in society and underestimate consensus
weber and rationalisation
led to concern himself with the operation and expansion of large-scale enterprises in both public and private sectors of modern societies
- increasingly driven by instrumentally rational actions - progressive removal of non-rational elements from all spheres of life
- weber afraid that it was dehumanising society - imprisoning and restricting individual expression
weber and rationalisation - bureaucracy
bureaucracy - particular case of rationalisation or rationalisation applied to human organisations
bureaucratic coordination of human action is the distinctive mark of modern social structures as they have technical superiority over other forms of organisations
goal-orientated organisations designed accordingly to rational principles in order to efficiently attain goals but often do not act in terms of substantive rationality
those who control these organisations control the quality of our life
the protestant spirit and spirit of capitalism
weber - having dialogue of marx’s ghosts
- ideas can shape societal evolution as well as material conditions
base-superstructure model is inadequate explanation of the rise of capitalism
weber - far more protestants than catholics among wealthy
weber - china and india had previously had the material factors for capitalism but didnt develop a capitalist system
