Topic 8 - Action Theories

• Structural theories


  See society as a real thing existing over and above us, shaping our ideas and behaviour – individuals are like puppets, manipulated by society
• Action theories


  Start from the opposite position, they are 'micro' level that focus on actions and interactions of individuals, they are more voluntaristic (we have freewill and choice)
• Our actions are not determined by society; rather, we are free agents, creating and shaping society through our choices, meanings and actions
• Weber's Social Action Theory


  People hold meanings about the world and consciously act on the basis of those meanings
• Weber's two levels of explanation


  • Level of cause: Explaining the objective structural (macro) factors that shape people's behaviour
  • Level of meaning: Understanding the subjective meanings that individuals attach to their actions (micro)
• Weber's four types of action based on meaning


  • Instrumentally rational action
  • Value-rational action
  • Traditional action
  • Affectual action
• Valuable as alternative to the overemphasis on structural factors that we see in functionalism and many forms of Marxism – the need to understand actor's subjective meanings to explain their actions
• Weber's typology of action is difficult to apply
• Schutz (1972) – Weber's view is too individualistic, and can't explain the shared nature of meanings
• Weber advocated the use of Verstehen - empathetic understanding of the actor's subjective meaning – where we put ourselves in the actor's place. However, as we cannot actually be that person, we can never be sure we have truly understood their motives
• Symbolic Interactionism


  Focuses on our ability to create the social world through our actions and interactions, and it sees these interactions as based on the meanings we give to situations. We convey these meanings through symbols, especially language
• Mead


  • People define and interpret the world through the meanings they attach to it. Between stimulus and response we have an interpretive phase
  • Reality is therefore a subjective reality
  • The meanings people hold are constructed from and communicated in the form of symbols – this is something that stands for or represents something else
  • Social life is a constant stream of symbolic communication with meanings being constantly negotiated and re-negotiated
  • People can do this by being able to take the role of the other i.e. putting ourselves in their place and seeing ourselves as others see us
• Taking the role of the other


  • This ability develops through social interaction. We first do this as young children: through imitative play when we take on the role of significant others such as parents, and learn to see ourselves as they see us
  • Later we come to see ourselves from the point of view of the wider community – the generalised other
  • For Mead, to function as members of society, we need the ability to see ourselves as others see us. Through shared symbols, especially language, we become conscious of the ways of acting that others require of us
• Blumer's three key principles of interactionism


  • Our actions are based on the meanings we give to situations, people etc. They are not automatic responses to stimuli, unlike with animals
  • These meanings arise from interactions and are to some extent negotiable and changeable
  • The meanings we give to situations are mainly the result of taking the role of the other
• Blumer's view of human conduct contrasts strongly with structural theories (e.g. functionalists) – they see the individual as a puppet, passively responding to the system's needs. Socialisation ensures that individuals conform to norms and perform their fixed roles
• Blumer argues that although our action is partly predictable because we internalise the expectations of others, there is always some room for choice in how we perform our roles
• Labelling Theory


  • Definition of the situation: A definition of something is clearly a label for that thing
  • Thomas (1966) argued that if people define a situation as real, then it will have real consequences i.e. self-fulfilling prophecy
• Looking-glass self


  • Cooley (1922) uses this idea to describe how we develop our self-concept – our idea of who we are
  • Our self-concept arises out of our ability to take the role of the other and we come to see ourselves as they see us i.e. others act as a looking glass to use – we become what others see us as
• Career


  • In normal usage, a career is the stages through which an individual progresses in their occupation, each with its own status, job title, problems etc.
  • Becker (1963) and Lemert (1962) have extended the concept to apply it to groups such as medical students, marijuana smokers and those suffering from paranoia
  • Example: Relation to mental illness; an individual will have a career from 'pre-patient', through labelling from a psychiatrist, to hospital in-patient, to discharge
  • The status of 'mental patient' becomes their master status
• Largely avoids the determinism of structural theories such as functionalism. It recognises that people create society through their own choices and meanings
• Some argue it is more of a loose collection of descriptive concepts, rather than an explanatory theory
• Focus is on face-to-face interactions and ignores wider social structures e.g. class inequality, and it fails to explain the origin of labels
• Not all action is meaningful – like Weber's category of traditional action, performed unconsciously/routinely and may have little meaning for actors
• Phenomenology


  • Schutz applies this idea to the social world
  • We share typifications (categories) to classify the world with other members of society
  • The meaning of an action varies according to its social context. Meaning is given by the context, not by the action itself
  • Fortunately, typifications make social order possible, because they give society a shared 'life world' of common sense knowledge which helps in everyday interactions
  • Schutz calls this 'recipe knowledge', because we can follow it like a recipe and without having to think too much. The social world only exists when we share the same meanings
  • The fact that society appears as real shows we share the same meanings and this allows us to co-operate with each other – natural attitude
• Structuration Theory


  • Giddens accepts the value of both views and attempts to combine the two into one unified theory
  • Reproduction of structures through agency: Duality of structure = The duality of structure is essentially a process whereby agents (action) and structure are two sides of the same coin – cannot exist without each other
  • Structure has 2 elements: Rules - norms customs and laws that govern action (work, money, shop) so we reproduce the existing structure of society
  • Resources - economic (raw materials, technology etc.) and power over others
  • However, we can change structures through agency: Reflexively monitor - Our constant reflection of our actions and their results and can then choose new actions
  • Consequence of actions - Actions may change the world but not in way we expected e.g. Calvinists
• Archer argues it underestimates the capacity of structures to resist change e.g. slaves wish to abolish slavery but lack the power
• Craib is not really a theory at all as it doesn't explain. No explanation of application to economy and state
• Overcomes the division between structure and action