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Honours) in Sociology (Baso ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This course material is designed and developed by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi and e-PG Pathshala. BACHELOR OF ARTS (HONOURS) IN SOCIOLOGY (BASO) BSO-5 Classical Sociological Thinkers BLOCK – 4 MAX WEBER UNIT-1 SOCIAL ACTION UNIT-2 PROTESTANT ETHIC AND THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM UNIT-3 IDEAL TYPE UNIT-4 AUTHORITY AND BUREAUCRACY BLOCK 4 : MAX WEBER This Block deals with another German social theorist, Max Weber. The Block is divided into four units. Unit 1 introduces the learners to the sociology of Weber. The basic sociological terms and concepts of Weber are elaborated in this Unit which also covers the theory of social action and rationality. An important contribution of Weber i.e. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is discussed in the Unit 2. Unit 3 discusses the methodology of Weber i.e. Ideal types. One of his major contributions in the field of religion and social change is discussed in Unit 4 i.e. Weber’s views on the link between religion and the rise of capitalism in the West. UNIT 1 : SOCIAL ACTION STRUCTURE 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Learning Objectives 1.3 Max Weber (1864-1920) 1.3.1 Biographical Sketch 1.3.2 The Central Ideas 1.4 Subjective Understanding of Social Action 1.4.1 Social Action 1.4.2 Subjective Meaning of Social Action 1.5 Natural Science and Social Science 1.6 Sociological Methodology 1.7 Critical Assessment of Weber’s Contributions 1.8 Let Us Sum Up 1.9 Glossary 1.10 Check Your Progress: The Answer Keys 1.11 References 1.1 INTRODUCTION A contemporary of Durkheim, Max Weber (1864-1920) was concerned with the development of that dimension which he thought most essential and promising for the furtherance of the science of Sociology. Karl Emil Maximilian Weber, popularly known as Max Weber, was born in Erfurt; Germany in 1864. He is regarded as one of the founding fathers of Sociology. Weber delineated the subject matter of Sociology as the ‘‘subjective understanding of social action’’. Weber stated that the basic unit of society is social action, and social action is motivated by the purpose and will of the actors. In other words, the individuals attribute meanings to their actions, and interact with others in the society. The task of a researcher is to explore and analyse the meanings that the actors attribute to their actions. For this, Weber developed an elaborate methodology for the exploration and analysis of this subjective realm of social action. Weber’s contribution to sociological theory was complementary to the kind of analysis that Durkheim developed. In fact, Weber’s contribution was a filling in of that dimension which Durkheim left wholly untouched. In this Unit we will discuss the major contributions of Max Weber i.e. social action to Sociology. 1 1.2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying thus Unit, you will be able to: identify the important contributions of Max Weber to Sociology; define Social Action and its four Ideal types; explain subjective understanding of social actions and its importance in Sociology; discuss natural science and social science; explain the sociological methodology of Weber. 1.3 MAX WEBER (1864-1920) While Karl Marx may be one of the best-known thinkers of the nineteenth century, Max Weber is certainly one of the greatest influences in the field of sociology. Like the other social thinkers discussed here, he was concerned with the important changes taking place in Western society with the advent of industrialization. And, like Marx and Durkheim, he feared that industrialization would have negative effects on individuals. Weber’s primary focus on the structure of society lay in the elements of class, status, and power. Similar to Marx, Weber saw class as economically determined. Society, he believed, was split between owners and labourers. Status, on the other hand, was based on noneconomic factors such as education, kinship, and religion. Both status and class determined an individual’s power, or influence over ideas. Unlike Marx, Weber believed that these ideas formed the base of society. 1.3.1 Biographical Sketch Max Weber (1864-1920) was born in western Germany on April 21, 1864. He studied law at the University of Heidelberg. He joined University of Berlin as an instructor in law. He wrote a number of papers on law, and social, political and economic factors prevalent during that time. His major writings were, ‘The Theory of Economic and Social Organisations’, ‘General Economic History’, ‘Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism’ (1904). He studied law and economics and he became a specialist in the interpretation of religious doctrines and he was a notable biblical scholar. He had a thorough grasp of ancient Roman administration, medieval trading companies and the modern stock exchange. He became a specialist in comparative history of urban institutions. He also made a special study of social and psychological conditions of productivity in a West German textile mill. He studied methodology of social studies. Weber always preferred knowledge obtained through practical experience than library research. His writings reflect the social conditions of Germany of his time. He saw the decline of liberalism and threat to individual in the bureaucratisation of the society. Unification of Germany under Bismarck and elimination of liberal middle class movement convinced Weber that the great goal could be achieved through power policies. (Prasad. et.al. p.77) 2 1.3.2 The Central Ideas In the early years, Weber wrote mostly on legal history and economics. He was very productive during this time and published his dissertation on trading companies in the middle ages in 1889, a book on Roman agrarian history in 1891, a book on farm labor in Eastern Germany in 1892, a book on the stock exchange in 1894, and a book on the state and economic policy in 1895. Prominent sociologist Max Weber established a sociology department in Germany at the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich in 1919. Weber wrote on many topics related to sociology including political change in Russia and social forces that affect factory workers. He is known best for his 1904 book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. The theory that Weber sets forth in this book is still controversial. Some believe that Weber argued that the beliefs of many Protestants, especially Calvinists, led to the creation of capitalism. Others interpret it as simply claiming that the ideologies of capitalism and Protestantism are complementary. Weber believed that it was difficult, if not impossible, to use standard scientific methods to accurately predict the behavior of groups as people hoped to do. They argued that the influence of culture on human behavior had to be taken into account. This even applied to the researchers themselves, who, they believed, should be aware of how their own cultural biases could influence their research. To deal with this problem, Weber and Dilthey introduced the concept of verstehen, a German word that means to understand in a deep way. In seeking verstehen, outside observers of a social world—an entire culture or a small setting—attempt to understand it from an insider’s point of view. In his book The Nature of Social Action (1922), Weber described sociology as striving to “interpret the meaning of social action and thereby give a causal explanation of the way in which action proceeds and the effects it produces.” He and other like-minded sociologists proposed a philosophy of Antipositivism whereby social researchers would strive for subjectivity as they worked to represent social processes, cultural norms, and societal values. This approach led to some research methods whose aim was not to generalize or predict (traditional in science), but to systematically gain an in-depth understanding of social worlds. The different approaches to research based on positivism or Antipositivism are often considered the foundation for the differences found today between quantitative sociology and qualitative sociology. Quantitative sociology uses statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants. Researchers analyse data using statistical techniques to see if they can uncover patterns of human behavior. Qualitative sociology seeks to understand human behavior by learning about it through in-depth interviews, focus groups, and analysis of content sources (like books, magazines, journals, and popular media). 3 1.4 SUBJECTIVE UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIAL ACTION As we have already mentioned, to Weber, sociological analysis is “the subjective understanding of social action”. This statement implies two basic components: Social action Subjective meaning of these actions Box 1.1 Interpretative Sociology Interpretive Sociology considers the individual and his actions as the basic unit of society, as its “atom.” The social groups as state, association and the other groups are the result of interaction of individuals. Hence, the task of Sociology should consist of the study of individual action. Group behaviour can be understood by an analysis of the actions of the participating individuals. 1.4.1 Social Action Weber focuses not on the collectivity but on the individual. According to Weber, the collectivities such as the state, association, etc., must be treated solely as the results and modes of organization of the particular acts of the individual. Thus, Weber focuses on the individual and his action. He identified that it is the ‘social action’ of an individual which is the proper object of Social Science and Sociology. In the words of Weber, “Action is social in so far as… it takes account of the behaviour of others and is thereby oriented in its course”. This definition of Weber highlights basic two components: Social action is oriented to others. This implies that social interaction occurs between individuals. This paves the way for collectivities and other associational/group behaviour.
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