Action theories

• Bottom up= studying social behaviours, study individuals first
• individuals shape society through their interactions between each other
• micro view= study social interactions between individuals
• opposite to structural theory
• Goffman's dramaturgical theory= all the world is a stage and we're all social actors with different roles in different scenarios
• Max Weber - humans are conscious beings, actions have meanings
• sociologists should gain verstehen (empathetic understanding of human behaviour)
• mead= societies are created and maintained through repeated actions of individuals (interactions mediated by symbols e.g. language, gestures)
• labelling theory= interactions between teachers and students
• some teachers label students according to their social class background, ethnicity but not their ability and efforts
• labelling can have a powerful effect on their educational achievements - leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy (accept the label and act on it)
• doesn't pay attention to how social structures constrain action (e.g. material deprivation can impact ability, its not all about labelling)
• ignores power distribution in society - can't explain patterns in class, gender