social action theory

• levels

  weber - saw both structural and action theories as needed for a full understanding of human behaviour as an adequate sociological explanation involves two levels

  • cause - explaining objective structural factors that shape behaviour
  • meaning - understanding subjective meanings that individuals attach to their actions

  eg. at the causal level the protestant reformation developed a new denomination - calvinism - that changed people's worldview, but at the meaning level work took on a meaning as their calling so people accumulated wealth
• types of action


  weber - there are an infinite number of meanings people may give their actions but they can be classified in four ways

  1. instrumentally rational action
  2. value-rational action
  3. traditional action
  4. affectual action
• instrumentally rational action


  weber - the actor calculates the most effective way to achieve their goal eg. a capitalist calculating that the most efficient way to maximise profit is to pay low wages

  • about the most efficient way of reaching a goal, even if the goal itself isn't desirable
• value-rational action


  weber - action towards a goal the actor regards as desirable for their own sake eg. worshipping god in order to go to heaven

  • no way of calculating if the means of obtaining this goal are effective
• traditional action

  weber - customary or routine action

  • this action isn't rational as there is no conscious thought or action behind it
• affectual action


  weber - action that expresses emotion eg. weeping out of grief or violence sparked by anger

  • important in religious and political movements with charismatic leaders
• evaluation of weber

  valuable to criticise structuralist theories eg. functionalism HOWEVER

  • schutz - the view is too individualistic and can't explain shared natures of meaning eg. everyone understanding the meaning of gestures
  • typology is difficult to apply - trading on trobriand islands could be seen as traditional or instrumentally rational
  • advocated for verstahen, something that can never be fully experienced