action theory

what kind of theory is action theory?

• micro theory

• bottom-up

• voluntaristic

what is action theory split into?

• social action

• symbolic interactionism

• labelling theory

• phenomenology

• ethnomethodology

• structuration

what does action theory focus on?

actions and the interactions of individuals

what did max weber argue that an adequate sociological explanation has?

• the level of cause

• the level of meaning

what did weber believe brought about capitalism?

calvinism

what are the 4 types of action weber classified?

• instrumentally rational action

• value-rational action

• traditional action

• affectual action

what is instrumentally rational action?

where someone calculates the most efficient means of achieving a goal e.g., low wages for maximum profit

what is value-rational action?

action towards a goal that someone regards as desirable for its own sake e.g., a believer worshipping in order to get into heaven

what is traditional action?

customary, routine or habitual actions with no conscious thought or choice e.g., saying ‘bless you’ after someone sneezes

what is affectual action?

an action that expresses emotion e.g., weeping out of grief

what is verstehen?

being empathetic

what are the strengths of weber’s approach?

• valuable corrective to the over-emphasis on structural factors in functionalism and marxism

• an affirmation that we must understand subjective meanings to explain actions

what are the criticisms of weber’s approach?

• schutz → too individualistic and cannot explain the shared nature of meanings

• typology of action is hard to apply

• advocated verstehen but we cannot be another person so we cannot understand their motives

what is symbolic interactionism?

seeing interactions as based on the meanings we give to situations

what did mead say about symbols v instincts?

unlike animals. our behaviour is not determined by instincts, but rather by giving meaning to what is significant to us

what is taking the role of the other?

putting ourselves in the place of another person. we learn to do this through social interaction

what 3 key principles did blumer identify?

• actions are based on meanings

• meanings arise from interaction

• meanings are result of the interpretative procedures used

what 3 key interactionist concepts underpin labelling theory?

• the definition of the situation

• the looking glass self

• a career

what is the definition of the situation?

the label of something (W.I.Thomas) that will have real consequences if defined as real

what is the looking glass self

an idea by charles cooley used to describe how we develop our self concept by taking the role of the other

what is a career?

the stages through which an individual progresses through their labels

what is the dramaturgical model?

goffman’s analogy of how we actively construct our ‘self’ by manipulating others impressions of us

what is impression management?

controlling the impression our performance gives by studying our audience’s reactions and adjusting our performance

what does goffman argue about roles?

that there is a role distance between the actor and the role

what are the strengths of symbolic interactionism?

• avoids determinism

• dramaturgical model is useful

what are the weaknesses of symbolic interactionism?

• more of a loose collection of descriptions than an explanation

• ignores social structures

• cannot explain consistent patterns

• reynolds → lacks structure

• not all action is meaningful

• everyone plays both audience and action

• EM → fails to explain How actors create meaning

who developed phenomenology?

husserl

what did husserl argue about the world?

the world only makes sense because we impose meaning and order on it y constructing mental categories

what does alfred schutz argue about the social world?

the categories and concepts we use are shared

what are typifications?

shared categories that we use to classify information. schutz says without them, social order is impossible

what did schutz say about members of society?

they have a shared life world: a stock of shared typifications or commonsense knowledge to make sense of experiences

what is the natural attitude?

believing the social world is a solid, natural thing out there

what example does schutz use to demonstrate the natural attitude?

• mail letter to bookshop to order book

• assume unknown and unseen people will perform a series of operations in a certain way

• we get book

what do berger & luckmann say about the natural attitude?

its right to focus on shared commonsense knowledge but they reject his view that society is merely an intersubjective reality

what did garfinkel come up with?

ethnomethodology

what is ethnomethodology?

attempting to discover how we construct social order by studying the methods people use to make sense of the world

what is indexicality?

meanings are always potentially unclear - this is a threat to social order

what is reflexivity?

what enables us to behave as if meanings are clear and obvious - using commonsense knowledge to apply meaning to everyday situations

what breaching experiments did garfinkel and his students carry out?

• acting as lodgers in their own homes

• haggling at supermarkets

what did garfinkel and his students conclude after their breaching experiments?

the orderliness of everyday interactions is not inevitable but an accomplishment to those who take part - social order is participant produced

what are the strengths of ethnomethodology?

• draws attention to how we actively construct order and meaning

what are the criticisms of ethnomethodology?

• craib → findings are trivial

• EM argues everything is essentially fiction so why should we believe that is true

• functionalists → norms are social facts not fiction

• ignores wider structures of power and inequality

who combined structural and action theories to create structuration theory?

anthony giddens

what does structuration argue?

structure and action cannot exist without each other - through our actions, we produce and reproduce structures which make our actions possible e.g., language

what are the 2 elements of structure according to giddens?

rules and resources

what is ontological security?

a need to feel the world is really as it appears to be

what 2 reasons does action tend to reproduce for?

• rules contain a stock of knowledge about how to live our lives and we sue resources when following them

• deep seated need for ontological security

how can action change structure?

we reflexively monitor our actions and choose a new deliberate cause of action

what are the strengths of gidden’s approach?

• makes an important attempt to overcome the division between structure & action

what are the criticisms of giddens?

• archer → underestimates capacity of structures to resist change

• craib → doesn’t explain why, only describes

• craib → fails to unite structure and action

• doesn’t explain how the theory applies to large scale structures