Transcript Max Weber
Max Weber: Conceptual Methodology Max Weber 1864-1920 Pronounced “vey-bear” German Protestant Mother was a strong Calvinist Father was a German bourgeoisie politician Monday, April 11, 2016 © 1998-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender 2 Max Weber Wide ranging interests: Politics History Language Religion Law Economics Administration Sociology Max Weber Sociology concerned with individuals, not just structure Macro Micro Monday, April 11, 2016 © 1998-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender 4 Max Weber:Social Action Max Weber -- Sociology as a comprehensive science of social action. Focus on individual human actors Differed from many predecessors whose sociology was in social-structural terms Spencer concentrated on the evolution of society as analogous to an organism Monday, April 11, 2016 © 1998-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender 5 Max Weber: Social Action Marx’s--Preoccupation with conflicts between social classes Within changing social structures and productive relations Monday, April 11, 2016 © 1998-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender 6 Max Weber: Social Action Primary focus Subjective meanings that humans attach to their actions within specific socialhistorical contexts Behavior devoid of such meaning, Weber argued, falls outside the purview of sociology Monday, April 11, 2016 © 1998-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender 7 Understanding Social Action Behaviors to which the actor attaches subjective meaning Overt actions directed toward others Or just thinking about doing those actions Understanding Social Action Causal explanations: Two requirements 1.Sociologists' subjective comprehension of the relationship between social action (behavior) & people’s motives (intention) 2. Being able to determine a probability that one event will be associated with another (statistics) Understanding Social Action Explanations of causes (such as statistics) were useful only if there was social action subjectively understood by the sociologist Statistics without meaning were not sociological statistics Understanding Social Action Only individuals’ conduct is subjectively meaningful (focus on the individual) Often useful for sociologists to treat actions of collectivities (e.g., corporations or states) as acts of individual people Subjectively meaningful Understanding Social Action Norms of groups and organizations exert constraints on behavior of individual members People think about collectivities as though they were individuals (e.g., Apple, The Government) People orient behavior toward them Collectivities have a lot of influence over people’s behavior Max Weber: Ideal Types Analytical construct that provides the basic method for comparative study An ideal type is not a moral ideal There can be an ideal type brothel or chapel It is not a statistical average Used to develop hypotheses Monday, April 11, 2016 © 1998-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender 13 Ideal Types Both abstract from reality and Help sociologists understand reality Produce insights when they present ideas that can be compared to empirical observations Max Weber: Social Action Four Major Types of Social Action 1. Purposeful or Goal-oriented Rational Action Both goal and means are rationally chosen Example: Earning a college degree in order to get a good paying job. Monday, April 11, 2016 © 1998-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender 15 Max Weber: Social Action 2. Value-oriented Rational Action Striving for a substantive goal, which in itself may not be rational but which is nonetheless pursued rationally Example: Going to college because your “significant other” is going to that college. Monday, April 11, 2016 © 1998-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender 16 Max Weber: Social Action 3. Emotional or Affective Motivation Action Motivated by emotional state of actor rather than in the rational weighing of means and ends Example: Going to college because you love learning. Monday, April 11, 2016 © 1998-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender 17 Max Weber: Social Action 4. Traditional Action Guided by customary habits of thought Example: Celebrating religious holidays Monday, April 11, 2016 © 1998-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender 18 Max Weber: Ideal Type Authority 3 main modes of authority 1. Rational-legal authority Based on rational grounds Impersonal rules that have been legally enacted or contractually established Monday, April 11, 2016 © 1998-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender 19 Max Weber: Authority 2. Traditional authority Based on belief in sanctity of tradition Not codified in rules Passed down generation to generation Monday, April 11, 2016 © 1998-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender 20 Max Weber: Authority 3. Charismatic authority Allegiance to leader Based on leaders’ personal characteristics Monday, April 11, 2016 © 1998-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender 21 Value Free Before beginning to analyze data, First question social scientists must answer for is: What is worth knowing? Weber believed science could not answer that question in a way that was absolutely free from presuppositions and evaluations Value Free After selecting a problem to study Weber insisted that sociologists must proceed in a neutral manner Their values must not affect the study and not be permitted to intrude into the analysis Values can affect what sociologists see What sociologists overlook Ultimately distort the conclusions Value Free Contemporary social scientists question degree to which it is either possible or desirable Value free ideals can make researchers reflect on their assumptions and try to distinguish between facts and values But a value-free position can lead researchers to be removed from the topic Value Free Four key features of his methodology: 1. Focus on subjectively meaningful social action 2. Explanations of social action that emphasize interpretative understanding (verstehen) 3. Conceptual development of ideal types, and their application to empirical situations 4. Maintaining a value-free position Ideal Type Bureaucracy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBCAlZPF0D0 Rationality Conduct was rational if people selected means according to the probability that means would lead to certain ends. Weber believed that rationality was increasing across institutions 10/ 23 Rationality When the assessment of means entailed systematic and quantitative calculations, Weber termed it formal rationality. Rationality has been recognized as perhaps the major theme in Max Weber's work Formal Rationality Formal rationality has not existed at all times and in all places. It was created in, and came to dominate, the modern, Western, industrialized world Rationalization • “The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and, above all, by the ‘disenchantment of the world’” • Instead of the power elite holding society back, it is the laws, rules and regulations required by capitalism Rationalization • Curtails people’s freedoms and traps them in a bureaucratic society • The rationalization process does not support individualism • It “dehumanizes people” Formal Rationality Imposes order on society in: Strict, Quantifiable terms Decisions based on: Universally applied rules laws and regulations Led to the rise of bureaucracy Weber defines as "goal-oriented organizations Designed according to rational principles In order to efficiently attain the stated goals.” Formal Rationality: Bureaucracy Bureaucratic institutions of modern society: Tightly control and direct human behavior Business Military Church Government Education Formal Rationality: Bureaucracy Modern times seem to reflect Weber’s prediction Formal rationality has led to vast economic expansion and efficiency via capitalism At the expense of: Tradition Emotion Moral values Formal Rationality: Bureaucracy What Weber feared would be lost in the bureaucratic transformation was the openended element of life A world largely devoid of: Imagination Creativity Spontaneity Formal Rationality Example: Secondary education demonstrates this concept: Teachers are required to cover very specific material Test and grade using: Hierarchical methods State and federal sanctioned standardized testing Formal Rationality Example: Children’s play Play dates Organized sports Games Rationality • The key features of formal rationality in organizations are: Efficiency Calculability Predictability Control “McDonaldization” “The process by which the principles of the fast food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world". George Ritzer applies Max Weber’s ideas regarding formal rationality to contemporary economic developments Rationalization Rationalized economic system and state reinforce each other; creating a monolith “Disenchantment” of social world leads to “iron cage” of bureaucracy, where social life is: Calculable Rational Efficient Dull No liberating utopia