Webers theory of society

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Revision as of 13:41, 1 October 2012

Webers theory of Soiety is strongly linked with his Theory of Man. With the use of his Ideal Types, constructed in Weber's theory of man, his goal was to use his analyses of goal-rational, value-rational, affective and traditional action as the building blocks of society in terms of ideal types of social interactions and social groupings. His objective is to create a set of formal concepts which will enable him to organize empirical research to better understand the distinctive characterestics of modern society (Campbell, 1981). His main interest is to contrast traditional and rational types of society. To investigate these issues he develops ideal types of certain types of phenomena such as bureacracy and capitalism, which both are reducible to meaningful patterns of interactions between individuals.

These social interactions play a big role in his Theory of Society. The unit which carries social meaningfulness is the 'social relationship'. This term is used by Weber to show the actions that are made by someone takes account the other person or persons in the social relationship.

Social relationships are analysed into three forms:

• Conflict

Form of a social relationship whereby action "is oriented intentionally to carrying out the actor's own will against the resistance of the other party or parties" (Campbell, 1981, p.179). To exercise 'power' and so achieve 'domination' or 'imperative control' you can do this successfully. Conflict is a feature of all societies. It prevents in varying degrees, from unregulated physical combat to carefully controlled competitive interactions. In each case the end result is some form of social selection of the type best adapted to the conditions, whereby the outcome depends on the qualities of individuals and groups and the nature of the conflict. According to Campbell (1981): "Society as a whole is a complex balance of conflicting groups" (p.179).

• Community

Form a social relationship whereby the relationship is based on a subjective feeling, whether affectual of traditional, that they belong together. Family relationships and national communities are examples of community social relationships. Mostly it is found in small groups and traditional societies (Campbell,1981).

• Association

Form of a social relationship whereby the social action is motivated by a similarly motivated agreement or a rationally motivated adjustments of interests. These interest can be anything from pure expediency to absolute values. "'Rational free market exchange, which constitutes a compromise of opposed but complementary interests', and voluntary associations for the pursuit of some objective such as scientific resears or to further 'some common absolute values' as in the case of commitment to a common cause" (Campbell, 1981, p.180) are examples of associative social relationships (Campbell,1981).

It is considered that actual social relationships involve some combination of these three ideal types.

To conclude the theory a idea of valid norms or legitimate order is fundamental for Weber's theory. Hereby Weber outlines three ideal types of legitimate order or authoriy.

• Traditional

People feel loyal to rules made in the past and to people who represent those. The reason that people accept this traditional authority is that those rules have existed for a long time and in the legitimacy of those who have inherited the right to command under these rules (Campbell, 1981).

• Charismatic

Reverence for military or religious leaders is an example of this. This type of order consists of charismatic qualities of a single person, whereby people abide the rules. Extraordinary individuals who possess outstanding personal qualities play an important role in the charismatic authority. Their charismatic appearance enables them to command large numbers of men and women in face-to-face relationships. This is the reason why this type of order is legitimated (Campbell, 1981)

• Legal

The rules are considered "legal' and are accepted, 'the rules are formal correct and have been imposed by an accepted procedure" (Campbell ,1981, p.181). It does not depend on the qualities of the individuals who create the rules or on their status as guardians of a tradition. So it is an impersonal order (Campbell, 1981).

With the use of, in total 6 elements, Weber is able to construct historically concrete societies with the use of various sort of social groupings which are made by combining these 6 elements.

References

Campbell, T. (1981). Seven theories of human society. Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Contributers

Constructed by Paul van den Hogen --PaulHogen 17:10, 10 September 2012 (CEST)

Edited by Anke Janssen, on 1 october 2012