SOCIOLOGY PROJECT 1St TRIMESTER

NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY

BHOPAL

SOCIAL ACTION

SUBMITTED BY: - SUBMITTED TO:-

DEEPAK KANERIYA DR. TAPAN R. MOHANTY

ROLL NO. – 2012 B.A.LL.B ‘76’

Table of Contents

1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………………………………………… 3

2. METHODOLOGY& AIM &OBJECTIVE………………………4

3. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………5-6

4. WHAT ARE SOCIAL ACTIONS…………………………………7

5. TYPE OF SOCIAL ACTION……………………………………..8

6. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………….9

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………..10

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ACKNOWLEDGEMNT

I would like to thank my Sociology teacher mr.Tapan R. Mohanty,

(Associate Professor of Sociology) for allowing me to pick up such an interesting topic. I

would also like to thank my seniors as well as my friends for providing valuable inputs

during the course of this project. 

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METHODOLOGY:- Studying and preparing a detailed project on the “social action” In sociological perspective.

AIMS &OBJECTIVE:- The aim to making this project is to understand the concept of social action in sociology which is given and propounded by max waber. social action can draw the true picture of community bonding, and to understand this concept I prepare this project.

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INTRODUCTION:-

Sociology in the sense of which ambiguous words is used as a science concerning itself with the

interpretive understanding of social action and thereby with a casual explanation of its course and

consequences. We shall speak of “action” in so far as the acting individual attaches a subjective

meaning to his behavior – be it overt or covert omission or acquiescence. Action is social in so far

as its subjective measuring takes account of the behavior of others and is thereby oriented in its

course.

Social action is that part of Sociology that shows collective human action independent of

its content. By studying social action we can understand the human approach to done any

work with some common intention of some common goal .without reference to any

specific time or place. We can understand the concept of social action with the help of a

very familiar example which we see in our day to day life.

EXAMPLE:-

The eleven players on a soccer team who coordinate their movements on the field

until they succeed in getting the ball into the opposite goal, or who prevent, also

among all of them, the ball from entering their own goal.

The bureaucrats in one of the offices of a Revenue Service, handle the same

paperwork on a daily basis, either they send it through a normal channel, or they

decide that some particular form needs to be sent to management in order to be

dealt with appropriately. The ritual marriage between crossed cousins that an

African tribe celebrates every two generations, etc

The action theory is not concerned about the things that human beings do, rather it looks

at the way in which they do them

Our Species isn't the only one that survives through collective action. Much lower on the

evolutionary scale of living creatures some types of insects are also deserving the term of

social. Actually they are far more social than we will ever be. For more than 50 million

years, there have been bee colonies.

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It is also clear that the way in which we create our society, our manner of combining

individual actions, is not the same method practiced by insect species. Bees have their

way of being social, each variety of ants has its way .

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SOCIAL ACTIONS:-

The concept was primarily developed in the non-positivist theory of Max Weber to

observe how human behaviors relate to cause and effect in the social realm. For Weber,

sociology is the study of society and behavior and must therefore look at the heart of

interaction. The theory of social action, more than structural functionalist positions,

accepts and assumes that humans vary their actions according to social contexts and how

it will affect other people; when a potential reaction is not desirable, the action is

modified accordingly. Action can mean either a basic action (one that has a meaning) or

an advanced social action, which not only has a meaning but is directed at other actors

and causes action (or, perhaps, inaction)

Weber believed that sociology was a study of social action. 

Max Weber believed that it was social actions that should be the focus of study in

sociology. To Weber, a ‘social action’ was an action carried out by an individual to

which an individual attached a meaning.

The social action theory was founded by Max Weber. There are two main types of

sociological theories.

The first is the structural or macro theory

And other is social action, interpretive or micro perspectives.

Weber was mastermind behind social action theory.

 

As the ‘micro’ name suggests, social action perspectives examine smaller groups within

society they are also concerned with the subjective states of individuals.

 Therefore, an action that a person does not think about cannot be a social action. Eg. An

accidental collision of bicycles is not a social action as they are not a result of any

conscious thought process. On the other hand, a wood cutter cutting wood has a motive,

an intention behind that action. It is therefore ‘a social action’.

 

In social action theory, Weber believes that bureaucratic organizations are the dominant

institutions in society. Weber believes that bureaucracies (institutions) consist of

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individuals carrying out rational social actions designed to achieve the goals of

bureaucracies.

Weber views the whole development of modern societies in terms of a move towards

rational social action. Thus, modern societies are undergoing the process of

rationalization.

Weber argues that all human action is directed by meanings. He identified various types of action that are distinguished by the meanings on which they are based:  

Traditional action -this is based on established custom; people act in a certain way because of built-in habits: they have always done things that way. Rational action – involves a clear awareness of a goal.

Rational action- rational action may be value-oriented (they may act from emotional or affective motivations; or, finally, they may engage in traditional action. Purposeful rationality, in which both goal and means are rationally chosen, is exemplified by the engineer who builds a bridge by the most efficient technique of relating means to ends.

Evaluative actions- In terms of rational orientation to an absolute value; involving a conscious belief in the absolute value of some ethical, aesthetic, religious or other form of behavior entirely for its own sake and independently of any prospects of external success.

Emotional actions- In terms of effectual orientation especially emotional determined by the specific affects and state of feeling of the actors.

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CONCLUSION:-

From the above theory of waber definitions and type of social action and their definitions we can

clearly understand the meaning of social actions. now we can define social action as collective

efforts made by group of people to achieve a common goal, these actions is known as “social

action”.

Social actions are always important because, their relation to human being as well as society is

unquestionably very important.

in a healthy community, social action promotes the values of social justice and human rights.

individual and systemic advocacy are the tools and the means for social action – that is activism.

Activists, as individuals and as part of organized movements, have always led social change.

There are sympathetic politicians, bureaucrats and decision makers, but they work in a milieu that

has shifted towards privatization, maximum profit, costs versus care, and they are heavily

influenced by polls. We are in a new federal regime that is receiving the message that we like

what they are doing and we have to change that.

Social action and ultimately social change is all about mobilizing our social movements, our faith

communities, our labour organizations, bringing all kinds of people together, united in the

common cause, which are the values of social justice and human rights.

The social action is to examine how and why particular individuals and groups are

defined as ‘deviant’ where deviance can be defined as “behavior that does not follow the

norms of a particular social group.” Such a definition may impact their future actions

within society. Social action has been viewed by professional social workers as a means

for improving mass conditions, enhancing social welfare, solving mass problems,

influencing basic social conditions and policies out of which arise the problems of social

adjustment and maladjustment; and changing the environment

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:-

1. http://www.sociologyguide.com

2. http://www.wikipedia.org

3. http://www.Historylearning.co.uk

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