Social Action Theory

 Sociologist Max Weber developed social action theory.

Definition of Social Action Theory

Social action theory in sociology is a critical theory that holds that society is a construction of the interactions and meanings of its members. It explains human behaviour at a microscopic, small-scale level through which we can understand societal structures. 

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.

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.

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. 

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

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.

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.

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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.