1. Social Action Theories

2. So far we have concentrated on structuralist theories of society – these are macro theories of society which look at the world from a top-down perspective and generally see our behaviour as being shaped by the system that we live in; either the superstructure through its dominant ideology for Marxists, or through value consensus for Functionalists.
Social Action theorists have a much greater sense of individual empowerment – that we are actively involved in shaping the world through our actions and perceptions of other peoples’ actions.

3. Max Weber A German Sociologist, born in 1864, and died in 1920.
Influenced by Marx – but built on the more structural ideas of Marxism – felt that Marxism denied the power of human agency
He was the primary influence over the move to Social Action theories – Weber is considered the “bridge” between structuralism and social action theories,

4. The Bridge
Weber is considered the “bridge” between these two sociological perspectives as on the one hand he did acknowledge that classes existed (although he also added other divisions that exist in society, like party and status), but he also believed that society is made up of individuals acting independently

5. Social Action
As the ‘micro’ name suggests, social action perspectives examine smaller groups within society. Unlike structuralism, they are also concerned with the subjective states of individuals. Very much unlike a structuralist perspective, social action theorists see society as a product of human activity.
Whenever we act in public, in a way in which we have chosen to behave (i.e. not accidentally) then we are carrying out a social action – this has to be seen by others, so that others can also attach some kind of meaning to what we are doing – to interpret it.
For Weber the ideas of “Action” and “Meaning” were the central features of any study of sociology

6. Interpretative Understanding (Verstehen)

7. Direct Observational Understanding
When someone acts we can observe their body language, and we might attach meaning to their actions – so if they are smiling, we might think they are acting in a particular way because they have chosen to – they are happy doing it etc.
He uses an example of a woodcutter
He said this was a very unreliable way of telling their real motives.

8. Explanatory Understanding
This means making sense of the action from the perspective of the actor
To understand why the woodcutter is cutting wood we need to consider it as part of a wider sequence of meaningful events. Are they chopping wood to earn a wage, to light a fire to keep warm, or for physical exercise?

9. Erklaren
Causal Understanding

10. Causal Understanding
Max Weber observes that social action is that action of an individual which is somehow influenced by the action and behaviour of other individuals and by which it is modified and its direction is determined.
Weber writes, “A correct causal interpretation of concrete course of action, is arrived at when the overt action and the motives have both been correctly apprehended and at the same time their relation has become meaningfully comprehensible.”