Sociology 1000 Final: Weber
How did Weber differ from Marx on Social Theory?
he believed the task of social theory was to promote the gathering of objective facts about society and to uncover valid, historical truths (NOT to advocate for political
How does Weber align with Durkheim and Marx?
he could develop different concepts and GENERALIZED interpretations of social action, ones that could be used to understand social action under any conditions (past, present, future)
social action
involves some element of intentional orientation toward others
benefits of an ideal type?
maintains the central significance of meaning to social action while also contributing to a science of society that produces meaningful generalizations about social action and social life
Ideal Types are used as a ....
measuring rod to sort things OBJECTIVELY (a way that is not influences by peoples feelings or opinions)
Social relationship
mutually-oriented social action (ex: purchasing something)
Value-rational action
rational action GUIDED by a particular value or belief
Dilthey
reality in its entirety, is too much for any human to comprehend
Methodology as a sociology definition
refers to how observers go about their observations and explanations of social reality
Sociology as Weber defines it
systematic, interpretive study of social action
According to Calvinism worrying and idleness is
the Devil's Work
Weber believes the main problems of methodology can be resolved on the basis of ...
the actual analysis of the empirical social world - on the basis of genuine lived experiences.
Abstraction
the process of moving from the specific to the more general and, ultimately, to broadly inclusive analysis of social behaviour
Verstehen
the process of understanding social phenomena in terms of the SUBJECTIVE UNDERSTANDING that social actors hold about the meaning of their own actions. - Or to grasp and comprehend the meaning intended or expressed by another
Ideal Types are Heuristic devices meaning...
they enable someone to learning/discovery something for themselves.
When is an action a SOCIAL ACTION
when its intended meaning takes account of the behavior of others and is thereby oriented in its unfolding
Is it possible to have power without authority?
yes - but power without authority wont last
What did Marianne Weber (Max Weber's wife) publish?
- "Marriage, Motherhood, and the Law" - "Authority and Autonomy in Marriage"
What is the Protestant Ethic?
- After the protestant reformation (when people lacked Catholic faith) - Luther on Faith vs work (good deeds were cumulative... fundamental key is to have FAITH) -Luther's reformed concept of the calling (vocation-- become passionate about God)
How to read Weber's writing?
- As an ethical writer ( careful/precise/detailed documentation, careful statements, and counter-arguments and examples) - A writer of immense learning
Goal-oriented & Legal-rational Authority
- COMMITMENT TO RULES - rational pursuit of efficiency, profit or other arbitrary goals become "authoritative". - self-monitoring - usefulness defined by means-end calculation, bestows legitimacy ex: judges in court
Vocation in Calvinism
- God has predestined all - God cannot be influenced - A calling is a service to God
The calling in Calvinist popular culture
- Salvation cannot be earned -> work cannot achieve salvation - a life of consistent work is what matters - there is never a "good enough" when serving god
Intellectual Influences
- Wilhelm Dilthey - Heinrich Rickert
Action characteristics that behaviors don't have
- action is driven by will - action is conditions by circumstances - will may reflect values and/or interests
Charismatic leadership as an IDEAL TYPE
- authority INSPIRATIONAL and INSPIRED - charisma is UNSTABLE and IRRATIONAL - authority is PERSONAL; the word of the "anointed" is LAW (I I I) - Charisma is often REVOLUTIONARY : de-legitimizes an existing order
what are the FORMAL (empty - content does not matter as much) ideal types of authority government?
- charismatic - goal-oriented / legal-rational
The historical importance of charismatic authority
- charismatic leaders TRULY bring change - often emerges in times of change or upheaval - often prophets of change - can be 'irrational' with rationalizing effects
Weber's main points
- demonstrate the extent to which religion after the reformation of the 16th century was the source of the values and ideas of the modern world - rise of instrumental reason / goal-rational action
when is there Crisis of Charismatic leadership?
- loss of charismatic legitimacy - death of the leader
Major themes in Webers work?
- methodology and investigation in social sciences (idea types, social action, verstehen, and values) -Ethics of research and teaching -rationality -rationalization -capitalism and bureaucracy
what are the SUBSTANTIVE (full - all about its content)
- tradition - value-rational
Ben Franklin Secularizing (from very religious to less religious) Vocation
-Work was a sign: from "Salvation" to "successful" -brought up as a Calvinist and Weber found Calvinist form but without content in his writing
The "Iron Cage" of Bureaucratic Capitalism
-necessity of specialized tasks, career, job -delayed gratification
Traditional Authority
-occupying an office, authority of precedent (a previous event/action that acts as a guide to be considered) -lacks rationalization ex: The Queen
what are the 4 ideal types of authority GOVERNING SOCIAL ACTION
1- charismatic authority 2- goal-oriented & legal-rational authority 3- Traditional authority 4- value-rational authority
7 characteristics of the IDEAL TYPE of modern bureaucracies
1- hierarchical chain of command 2-rational specialization and co-organization of tasks and subunits 3- rational procedures for hiring and promotions 4- decisions based on systematic record-keeping (documents and files) 5- Allegiance to a system of impersonal rules and regulations 6- absence of personal ties between officials and clients 7- Officials who subscribe to an IMPERSONAL ethic duty in relation to a position or rank, a set of specialized tasks and a career.
7 characteristics of the IDEAL TYPE of modern capitalism
1- private ownership of all potentially profitable elements of production and exchange (labor included) 2- Rational accounting of all factors involved in economic activity 3- Rational introduction and employment of technology 4- systematic and rational pursuit of profit 5- Competition between companies 6- Laissez-Faire: government, church, etc. Keep hands OFF of the economy (Very different from premodern capitalism) 7- "Rational Law" - predictable, non-arbitrary legal system. (Ration - carefully calculated, based on facts and REASON)
3 consequences of rationalization
1. Distinction and formalization of different spheres of social action and culture 2. Gradual Eclipse of Values by Interests - rejection of tradition and irrational social arrangements -Mcdonaldization 3. General Cultural Disenchantment -rational matter-of-factness; general impatience with emotion, mystical or wishful thinking (ex: mythbusters)
Four categories of MEANINGFUL SOCIAL ACTION
1. Goal-rational 2. Value-rational 3. Affective 4. Traditional
Ideal types are constructed on two things...
1. Observation of social phenomena 2. Interpretation of social phenomena - BOTH are necessary to fully understand a social phenomena, neither are sufficient enough on their own.
4 characteristics of rationalization as historical process (rationalization of action and authority)
1. SYSTEMATIZATION - of thought and action - working together 2. TOTALIZATION - of thought and action - all coordinates with central values and goals 3. INTELLECTUALIZATION - use of formal logical and/or calculation of efficiency - gives clarity 4. DISENCHANTMENT - and logical "matter-of-factness" - rational - de-legitimizes mysticism, magic, emotion.
Weber adapts 3 ideas from Rickert
1. both nature and human behavior can be studied scientifically, but with IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES. 2. valid scientific knowledge about social phenomena lies in understanding the subjective meanings that social actors attach to their actions. 3. To keep social scientific statements distinct from value judgments, it lies in developing a set of ideal types!
What are the three respective levels of understanding
1. the actual intended meaning for the specific action - HISTORICAL APPROACH 2. the average of the actually intended meaning - MASS OBSERVATION 3. The meaning appropriate to a pure type of a common phenomena - IDEAL TYPE
An Idea Type is ...
A methodological construction that summarizes the essential properties COMMON to a number of concrete instances of a given type of social phenomena - Helps sociologists to identify and categorize the specific social phenomena that he or she studies
What is a bureaucracy?
A system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by STATE OFFICIALS rather than by the elected representatives.
Why use an ideal type?
An ideal Type helps sociologists formulate hypotheses, determine if a specific type actually exists, and make the characteristics of a specific type clear and understandable
What is the social action that characterizes the scientific or scholarly action?
Goal-Rational Action and Value-Rational Action
How does Weber differ from Bacon and Galileo?
He was not trying to develop universal laws
Historical Science
IDIOGRAPHIC - seeks to understand meaning of contingent, unique, often cultural or subjected phenomena. EACH/SEPARATE events.
Historical School
Ideographic (individual cases/events) Unique nature of EACH Social event (separately)
Verstehen as an English term is ...
Interpretive Understanding
For Weber, VERSTEHEN was an integral (necessary to make a whole complete) part of sociology, defined as....
Interpretive Understanding of social behavior in order to arrive at a casual explanation of its course and effects
Goal-rational action
Mentally calculated action - aimed at achieving a particular goal
are ideal types found in reality?
NO - they are generalizations
Natural Sceince
NOMOTHETIC - derives LAWS that explain types or categories of phenomena objectively -deriving general explanations from observations of patterns, correlations, or from experimental testing - GENERALIZATIONS
Rationalization as a historical feature
NOT an inevitable process but a particular historical feature of the "Problem of the West" which in the 19th century came to dominate the world by economics, military, political, and cultural means.
what are Ideal Types constructed from?
Observation of action and institutional orders and documentary study, but also from interpretive understanding of values and motives.
what is the Role of consciousness in social processes? (important to Weber)
One has to examine the ways in which consciousness and ideology FACILITATES and CONSTRAINS the material practices of humankind within different social formations.
PRE-modern bureaucracies were characterized by ....
Patronage - Support, encouragement, privilege, or FINANCIAL aid that an organization/country/individual bestows to another - bribery
Modern Bureaucracies are organized according to ...
Principals of impersonal rationality and delimited spheres of action - based on rules rather than ties of kinship, friendship, etc.
what is Weber's primary concern?
Rationality
Interpretative Sociology is the study of ....
Society that concentrates on the Meanings people associate to their social world. - strives to show that reality is constructed by people themselves in their daily lives.
What did Marx and Weber see as decisively important for the developmental direction of that society?
The decision-making processes that members of a society were able to engage in
Weber's take on human action
The human world must be studied and expressed MEANINGFULLY. The meaning of Human Action must not be reduced to casual forces that explain it away.
What is "the calling"
The things that you are passionate about are not random. They are your calling. - God gives everyone a calling -what you are supposed to do with your life
Who wrote "Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology"?
Weber
Who wrote "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism"?
Weber
How does Weber differ from Durkheim, Galileo, and Bacon with respect to the type of knowledge one should be pursuing?
Weber argues that sociologists should offer explanations and generalizations about the empirical observations
Is it possible to hold authority without power?
Yes - police during a riot -- they have the authority to stop it but lack man power
rationalization
a HISTORICAL PROCESS by which a given society and culture comes to be dominated by rationality in thought and action
Tradition Action
action guided by the dictates of tradition (because its the way things are done)
Affective (emotional) action
actions guided by DESIRES or EMOTIONS (fear, anger, hate, love, lust, etc.)
Rationality
an orientation to reality which systematically weighs up means and ends for purposes of EFFICACY
Charismatic Authority
authority inherent in a "magnetic" person or group ex: Donald Trump / Jesus Christ / Hitler / MLK jr.
Value-rational Authority
authority of ultimate values, rationally articulated in a philosophy or governing system, RATIONALLY implemented in practice. ex: soldier jumping on a grenade to save his comrades
Nietzsche's "The parable of the Madman"
does not mourn the death of God, but advocates humankind taking charge of its own affairs rather then passively accepting the dictates of the church
Weber argues that consciousness and the formation of human understanding in the social world cannot be reduced solely to the ....
economic base (as orthodox Marxists maintained)
An Interpretive position involves...
either trying to understand the meaning the person carrying out the action might be intending or what meaning a persons actions might convey to others.