Associative relationship

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Assignment 5: Associative Relationship

‘ Within the associative friendship, giving and receiving is minimal, and the association is superficial rather than intense ‘.

Max Weber’s approach defines sociology as a science value free, attempts the interpretative understanding of social action to arrive at a causal explanation of its course and effects. Weber’s theory of society acts in his three ideal types of social relationships ( conflict, communal and associative ) mixing it with three ideal types of legitimate authority ( traditional, charismatic and legal ). Weber successful reaches ideal types of social groupings who are still very understandable nowadays. ( Campbell, Weber 1981 )

It was Alfred Schütz who recognized that there are social groups, and this is especially evident in “Equality and the Meaning Structure of the SocialWorld” of 1955. For him, a group is a set of interacting individuals. Schütz divides groups in two ways. One distinction is between voluntary groups and involuntary or existential groups. The latter are based on such things as sex, national origin, mother tongue, and race, and the former include marriage, friendship, and partnership (Schutz, 1964). Of course dealing in direct face-to-face contact our society is not totally regarded and rewarded. According to Schütz’s indirect or ‘ they-relationships ‘ make up the totality of society. Society is therefore a construct of ideal types defined according to the functions of the abstract individuals involved. (Campbell, Schütz 1981 ) Multiple realities will lead to a world view within different schemes facing realities are different from each other.

Sources:

Campbell, T. (1981) Seven Theories of Human Society. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Chapter 8: Max Weber: An Action Theory. pp. 169-189.

Campbell, T. (1981) Seven Theories of Human Society. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Chapter 9: Alfred Schütz: A phenomenological Approach. pp. 197-214.

Werlen, B. (2009) Everyday Regionalizations. In: International Encyclopedia for Human Geography. Elsevier.

By Jorg Schröder (s4083245) & Ivar Le Loux (s4092031)