INTERPRETIVISM (MICRO THEORIES)

SOCIAL ACTION While Functionalism and Marxism insist that the structure or institutions are responsible for the manner in which individuals behave, social action or interpretive perspectives see structure as being influenced by the action of individuals. Max Weber challenges the view that society exists outside or independently of the individual.

SOCIAL ACTION Max Weber (1864-1920) Social Action or Individual Behaviour should be the focus of the study of society. THE PROTESTANT ETHIC AND THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM (1904) Social Action is an action carried out by an individual to which a person attached meaning. It is as a result of conscious thought where an individual logically and rationally gives a reason to an action in a public sphere. Verstehen – understanding of the meaning attached to an action.

SOCIAL ACTION Also remembered for his work on Bureaucracies. A bureaucracy was the dominant institution on industrial society. It is a rational organization with a hierarchy of paid, full-time professionals who formed a top-down chain of command. Bureaucracies are everywhere – government, church, schools. Humans rationally & logically think before they act. Saw three spheres that affect life – economic, political and cultural.

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM Symbolic Interactionism (by George Herbert Mead) Society is the product of interaction between people which takes place through the use of symbols which have meaning for the individuals involved.

Dramaturgy (by Erving Goffman) It is the belief that “life is a stage” and we are all players or actors. We are not our “real” selves in public.

ETHNOMETHODOLOGY Ethnomethodology (by Harold Garfinkel) Society has a particular order in life based on certain rituals that people use in order to make sense of their world.

Phenomenology (by Alfred Schutz) How people make sense of their environment and surroundings by classifying objects based on their understanding.