1 / 35

Max Weber 1864-1920

Max Weber 1864-1920. Rationality and Organization. Background. Maximilian Karl Emil "Max" Weber Born in Erfurt, Germany (1864) Well-to-do family Eldest of eight children Sickly child Physical problems Mental problems. Family. His mother (Helene Fallenstein ): Calvinist

betsy
Download Presentation

Max Weber 1864-1920

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Max Weber1864-1920 Rationality and Organization

  2. Background • MaximilianKarl Emil "Max" Weber • Born in Erfurt, Germany (1864) • Well-to-do family • Eldest of eight children • Sickly child • Physical problems • Mental problems

  3. Family • His mother (Helene Fallenstein): • Calvinist • Very religious • Concerned with social issues • His father (Max Weber): • Politician • Lawyer • Self-centered and authoritarian

  4. Mr. and Mrs. Max Weber

  5. Family • Parents had marriage problems • Different beliefs and values • Max Weber and his brother Alfred became sociologists and economists.

  6. Max Weber • Weber Pronounced: “vay-bear” • Max, Alfred, and Karl -> (1879)

  7. Max Weber’s Sociology • Concerned with individuals, as well as social structure • Macro • Micro

  8. Max Weber: Sociology Comprehensive science of Social Action • Behavior versus Action • Behavior= Move, react, eat etc. • Action=Behavior + Meaning

  9. Different from Other Theorists Spencer: Evolution of society as analogous to an organism • Natural laws of society Durkheim: Society as an organism • Maintaining cohesionof social structures • Social Solidarity

  10. Different from Other Theorists Marx: Society influenced by economy • Conflict between social classes Malinowski: Society functions to meet needs of individuals • Holistic approach

  11. Max Weber: Social Action Weber’s primary focus: • Subjective meanings that humans attach to their actions and interactions • Within specific social contexts Behavior without meaning is not sociology

  12. Max Weber: Social Action Four Major Types of Social Action 1. Traditional Action • Guided by custom or habit • Action is simply "always done" • Example: Celebrating holidays

  13. Max Weber: Social Action 2. Emotional or Affective Action • Motivated by emotional state • Love, Anger, Happiness, Revenge • Examples: • Going to college because your boyfriend or girlfriendis attending that school • Hitting a person out of anger

  14. Max Weber: Social Action 3. Value-oriented Rational Action • Working toward a goal, which may not be rational • But is pursued through rational means • Values: Ethical, Religious, Philosophical • Not rationally "chosen“ • Example: Going to college because you value learning and knowledge

  15. Max Weber: Social Action 4. Instrumental Rational (Goal-oriented Rational Action) • Goals & means are rationally chosen • Example: • Earning a college degree in order to get a good paying job How to get rich https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz81sLCy--c

  16. 3/24 Max Weber: Social Action • Primarily concerned with modern Western society • Behavior increasingly dominated by goal-oriented rationality • In the past: Motivated by tradition, affect, or value-oriented rationality

  17. Rationalization • Rational calculation, Efficiency, and Control (Ex. Bureaucracy) • Replaces: • Affective ties • Spirituality • Tradition

  18. Max Weber: Ideal Types An ideal type not meant to refer to “best” or to a “moral ideal” e.g., Ideal type brothel or Ideal type chapel • Analytical construct that provides a basic method for comparative study

  19. Max Weber: Ideal Types • Identifies “logically consistent” features of social institution • Compare “ideal type” to reality • Used to develop research hypotheses

  20. Ideal Type Bureaucracy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBCAlZPF0D0

  21. Legitimation & Authority • Legitimation-> Turns coercion into acceptable power • Authority = Legitimate Power • Three types of authority • 1. Legal-rational • 2. Traditional • 3. Charismatic

  22. Max Weber: Authority 1. Legal-rational authority • Based on impersonal rules • Rules are legally enacted or contractually established • Examples:Presidents, judges

  23. Max Weber: Authority 2. Traditional authority • Based on belief in tradition • Passed down generation to generation • Examples:Kings, Queens, Parents, Elders

  24. Max Weber: Authority 3. Charismatic authority • Allegiance to leader • Leader’s characteristics • Quality of individual's personality • Source of change • Examples:Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi

  25. Max Weber: Bureaucracy • Formal organization of large-scale enterprises for example: • Government • Military • Economy • Religion • Education • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBCAlZPF0D0

  26. Max Weber: Bureaucracy Ideal-type Bureaucracy: • Clearly defined division of labor • Rationality • Attention to implementing goals of organization • Impersonal application of rules • Routinization of tasks

  27. Max Weber: Bureaucracy Major advantage • Calculability of results Dysfunctions of bureaucracy • Depersonalization • Difficult to deal with individual cases • Personnel are replaceable • Information flows from top-down • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TypEb0tbFho • George Tooker paintings illustrate rationality and modernity

  28. Max Weber: Class, Status, and Party Method for Studying Social Stratification: Sources of Power • Social Class • “…property…and lack of property…” • Life chances • Socio-economic category • Lower class • Middle class • Upper class

  29. Sources of Power: Class, Status, & Party • Status • Prestige • Honor • Evaluations people make of one another • Ranking desired behavior & traits

  30. 2009

  31. Max Weber: Party • Association that attempts to influence social action • Religious • Political • Age-based • Race/Ethnicity • Lobbyists • Working toward a goal in a planned manner (i.e., rationally)

  32. Weber’s Contribution to Sociology • Stratification theory (class, status, party) • Bureaucracy & large scale organizations • Power & Authority • Sociology of law • Sociology of religion

  33. Weber’s Contribution to SociologyTheory and Methodology • “Verstehen”helps in understanding why certain behaviors occur • Social Action: Subjective meanings • Values: Role in relationships

  34. Weber’s Contribution to Sociology • Multi-causalityof Social Phenomena • Complete Objectivity is Impossible • Values & Value relevance

  35. Weber’s Contribution to Sociology • Max Weber had more powerful positive impact on a wide range of sociological theories than any other sociological theorist • Createdthe German Association for Sociology (1909) • Starting Point for Careers: • Karl Mannheim, Talcott Parsons, Robert Merton and C. Wright Mills

More Related