Social Action Theory

• 5 Features of Social Action

  Social structures area social construction created by individuals, not a separate entity above them

  Voluntarism, free will, and choice of people to do things and form their own identities rather than being dictated by social institutions

  Micro Approach- focus on individual or small groups

  Behaviours driven by beliefs, meanings, and feelings people give to the situation they’re in or the way they see things

  The use of interpretivist methodology in order to uncover the meanings and definitions given to behaviour
• Micro Approach

  Looking at the individuals in society and how they shape the world around them
• Verstehen

  Empathy

  To fully understand social groups, you have to be able to “walk in their shoes”
• Summary of Social Action Theory

  Weber- in order to fully understand society, you need to use a combination of both structural and action approaches
• Example: The Protestant Work Ethic

  Structural Cause- Protestant reformation, introduced a new belief system- Calvinism. This changed people’s worldview and therefore their behaviour

  Subjective Meaning- work took on a religious meaning, glorifying God through labour and aestheticism, making them the first modern capitalists
• 2 Levels of Sociological Explanation

  Cause- explaining the structural factors that shape people’s behaviour

  Meaning- understanding the subjective meanings that individuals attach to their actions
• 4 Types of Action

  Instrumental Rational Action

  Value Rational Action

  Traditional Action

  Affectual Action
• Instrumental Rational Action

  Social actors works out the most efficient way to achieve a goal e.g the most efficient way to make profits is to okay low wages
• Value Rational Action

  Action towards a goal that is seen as desirable for its own sake e.g. believing in God and completing rituals in order to reach salvation
• Traditional Action

  Routine, customary, or habitual actions that are done without thought or choice
• Affectual Action

  Action that expresses emotion

  Weber saw this as important in religion and political movements with charismatic leaders who attract followers based on emotional appeal

  E.g. weeping with grief or violence caused by anger
• Evaluation of Weber

  Schutz- too individualistic and doesn’t explain shared nature of meanings

  Application- difficult to apply these ideas as meanings can be misinterpreted or reinterpreted by different individuals

  Verstehen- it is never possible to truly put yourself into the shoes of another person, therefore we can’t really know or understand their motives