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IN FOCUS IN FOCUS IN FOCUS IN FOCUS ARTICLES ARTICLES ARTICLES ARTICLES MAINS 2014 SPECIAL - 3

Study materials available Political Science, Sociology, General Studies, Essay & CSAT Paper 1& 2
Z-block. 3007, 2
nd
street, 13
th
main road, Shanti Colony Road. Anna Nagar, Chennai-40.
Landmark: Adjacent to Natesan Institute. (Take 2
nd
RIGHT from police booth).
WEBER - SOCIAL ACTION
Action in sociology can either mean a basic action cone that has a meaning or a more
advanced Social action (one that not only has a meaning but is directed at other humans and
induces a response). The term SOCIAL ACTION was introduced by Max Weber.
Weber holds that Sociology is the interpretive understanding of social action. Sociology
tries to group inwardness and meanings of social action. Weber calls it Interpretive
Sociology that lays stress on the study, interpretive and recognition of the following factors: (a)
Social Action (b) Inwardness of social action (c) Inherent meanings (d) The mutuality developed
as a result of turning to others.
Social action has relationship with the action of the others and is not isolated. It is always
of struggle on the one hand and co- ordination on the other hand between individual and
members of society. A crowd can start doing social action only when its members begin to
behave with each other. E.g. when an individual prays in a temple lonely it cannot be called
Social action. At the most it can be called individual action.
Weber tries to understand the meaning of a social action from the viewpoint of social
actors and therefore its cause. He called it Verstehen, which due to an inability to translate its
nuance has come to be the technical term for this form of understanding - placing oneself in the
other's place to see the operative social force that determined action. Action and Verstehen are
used by Weber to suggest why people accept authority.
Weber says action is social in so far as by virtue of the subjective meaning attached to it
by the acting individual (or individuals), it takes account of the behaviour of others and is there
by oriented in its course. Thus Social action has four elements- Actor, Situation, Means and
Ends. Social action should have meaningful orientation. Social action may be influenced by an
action of past, present and future. Weber distinguishes four major types of Social Action:-
Traditional/ Habitual action
It is directed by customs or habits. People engage in this type of action often unthinkingly,
because it is simply always done. This form of action is important for Weber in that this can
become the basis for authority and legitimacy, To the extent that people feel a duty to abide
by customs or tradition, social order is created and maintained and this acquires legitimacy in
the minds of those who accept the traditions. Some traditional actions can become a cultural
artifact. E.g. Putting on clothes, Relaxing on Sundays.
Emotional/Affective action
It is taken due to one's emotions, to express personal feelings on account of love, hatred,
anger etc. These may or may not be rational Social action of this type is not ordinarily
considered to be rational in any normal sense of the Term. An uncontrolled reaction to some
exceptional stimulus is called sublimation when affectually conditioned action occurs in the
form of conscious release of emotional tension. Sublimation leads to usually, though not
always, the road to "value-rational" or end-rational action, or the combination of both.
E.g. Cheering after a victory, Crying at a Funeral would be affection actions.
Wert-rational/ Value rational
It is characterized by striving for a goal which is rational and is purchased through
rational means. The end Sanctifies the means. Such actions are taken because it leads to a
valued goal, But with no thought of its consequences and often Without consideration of the
appropriateness of the means to achieve it.
Affectual action is oriented to the satisfaction of a direct emotion such as revenge,
sensuality, devotion, and contemplative bliss, or, finally, toward discharging emotional
tensions regardless of how mass-conditioned or sublimed they may be.
Pure value-rational action without considering possible cost of its consequence, orients to
duty, dignity, beauty, religious call, piety, or "cause" no matter in what it consists.
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IN FOCUS IN FOCUS IN FOCUS IN FOCUS ARTICLES ARTICLES ARTICLES ARTICLES MAINS 2014 SPECIAL - 3

Study materials available Political Science, Sociology, General Studies, Essay & CSAT Paper 1& 2
Z-block. 3007, 2
nd
street, 13
th
main road, Shanti Colony Road. Anna Nagar, Chennai-40.
Landmark: Adjacent to Natesan Institute. (Take 2
nd
RIGHT from police booth).
E.g. Gandhian Satyagraha, Attainment of salvation
Zweck rational/ instrumental Goal Rational/ End-rational Action
It can be defined as action in which both goals and means are rationally chosen. It is
roughly Technocratic Thinking. Action is called end-rational when the end, the means, and
the results are all rationally taken into account and weighed. This involves rational
consideration of means to the end, of the goal to the results, and finally of the different
possible ends.
E.g. 1. Most economic transactions in which an individual has various alternative
commodities which can be Purchased and the individuals consider how to Choose among
these to achieve maximum satisfaction. 2. An engineer who builds a bridge by the most
efficient technique of relating means to ends.
Weber was primarily concerned with modern Western society, in which, as he saw it,
behavior had come to be dominated increasingly by goal-oriented rationality, whereas in earlier
periods it tended to be motivated by tradition, affect, or value-oriented rationality. His studies of
non-Western societies were primarily designed to highlight this distinctive Western development.
Webers typology of action is based on different kinds of circumstances. In fact he
changes his typology from time to time. In his typology of the modes of domination, Weber has
correlated the following:-
Rational action- Rational legal authority
Traditional action- Traditional authority
Affective action- Charismatic authority
Wert-rational action disappears in the above typology as it is not an example of an
abstract type. Webers typology of Social action is intended to be a comprehensive list of the
types of meaning men and women give to their conduct across socio- cultural systems. Weber
was an advocate of Multiple causation of human behaviour. His classification of types of
Social action provides a basis for his investigation of the evolutionary process in which
behaviour has come to be increasingly dominated by goal oriented rationality, less and less by
traditional values or emotions.
Critique
Weberian rationality has paradoxical social consequences. On one hand it gives human
beings technical control of their environment and enhances responsibilities by clarifying choices
and consequences. On the other hand it leads to impersonalisation as it slowly builds the vast
bureaucratic structures that parcel the soul and threaten the liberty and spontaneity of whole
population by engulfing them in a mindless efficiency.