Social Action Theory

Definition of social action theory

What is social action theory? Let's look at a definition:

Structural vs social action theory

As you may be able to tell, social action theory is quite different from other sociological theories, particularly structuralism.

This is because social action theory argues that society is made up of human behaviour and that people create and embed meaning into institutions. On the other hand, structural theories are based on the idea that society is made up of institutions and that these institutions shape and give meaning to human behaviour.

Weber and social action theory

Sociologist Max Weber developed social action theory. As we have mentioned, unlike structuralist theories such as functionalism, Marxism, or feminism, social action theory states that people create society, institutions, and structures. People determine society, not the other way around. Society is created 'from the bottom up'.

Weber attributes this to the fact that norms and values are not fixed but flexible. He argues that individuals give them meaning, and have a much more active influence in shaping society than structuralist theorists assume.

We will examine and evaluate some of the fundamental concepts of social action theory in more detail now.

Key concepts and examples of social action theory

Weber introduced several critical concepts within the framework of social action theory that expanded his theory of how individuals contribute to the shaping of society. Let's look at these, along with some examples.

Social action and understanding

According to Weber, social action should be the primary focus of sociology. Social action is the term for an action behind which an individual attaches meaning.

Unlike positivists, he believed in an interpretivist, subjective approach to understanding human behaviour.

Weber only considered an action to be 'social' if it took into account the behaviour of other people, because that also contributes to the creation of meaning. Mere contact with other people does not make an action 'social'.

He also believed that we should practise understanding, i.e., empathy, to understand the meaning behind people's actions. He specified two kinds of understanding:

• Aktuelles Verstehen (Direct understanding) – directly observing and understanding social actions. For example, when we observe someone washing their car, we have some understanding of what that person is doing. However, Weber argued that pure observation is not enough to understand the meaning behind their social action.

• Erklärendes Verstehen (Empathetic understanding) – understanding the meaning and motives behind the social action. To do this, we need to put ourselves in the shoes of the person doing the social action to find what meaning they attach to it. For instance, we cannot tell why someone is washing a car simply by watching them do it. Are they doing it because the car genuinely needs cleaning, or because they find it relaxing? Are they washing someone else's car as a favour, or is it an overdue chore?

Weber argues that we can understand human actions and social change by understanding the meanings given to social actions. He says that we should interpret the lived experiences of others subjectively (through their own first-hand personal knowledge) rather than trying to understand how others think and feel objectively.

Calvinism, social action, and social change

In his famous book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber highlighted the example of the Calvinist denomination within the Protestant religion. He noted that Calvinists used their work ethic and individualistic values (social action) to promote capitalism (social change) in Western Europe in the 17th century.

Calvinist influences on capitalism.

Weber argued that the meanings behind social actions in Calvinists' lives led to social change. For example, it was not just that people worked for long hours, but why they worked long hours - to prove their devotion.

The four types of social action

In his work Economy and Society (1921), Weber outlines four forms of social action that people undertake. These include:

Instrumentally rational action

• Action performed to efficiently achieve a goal (e.g., cutting vegetables to make a salad or putting on spiked football shoes to play a football game).

Value rational action

• Action performed because it is desirable or expresses a value (e.g., a person enlisting as a soldier because they are patriotic, or a person quitting a company that does not align with their values).

Traditional action

• Action that is done out of a custom or habit (e.g., going to church every Sunday because you have been doing it since childhood, or taking off your shoes before entering the house because you have always been told to do so).

Affectional action

• Action by which you express emotion(s) (e.g., hugging someone when you see them after a long time, or crying at a sad film).

Social action theory: strengths and weaknesses

Social action theory has a unique perspective; it has strengths but is also subject to criticism.

Positive aspects of social action theory

• Social action theory acknowledges individual agency and motivations for change and impact on society. It allows for large-scale structural change.

• The theory does not see the individual as a passive entity in a societal structure. Instead, the individual is viewed as an active member and shaper of society.

• It can help trace significant structural changes throughout history by considering the meanings behind social actions.

Criticisms of social action theory

• The case study of Calvinism is not necessarily a good example of social action and social change, as many other capitalist societies have emerged from non-Protestant countries.

• There may be more motivations behind the actions than the four types outlined by Weber.

• Proponents of structural theories argue that the social action theory ignores the effects of societal structures on the individual; society shapes individuals, not the other way around.