Contrast with Durkheim:

 Weber defined sociology as, “the interpretative understanding

of social action in order thereby to arrive at casual explanation
of its courses and effects”.
Anti-positivist approach
 Importance of verstehen or empathy
 Relive the experience of the other. Not simply noting what you
observe-but understand the meaning of actions as given by the
actors.
 Using verstehen is scientific-it disregards intuition.
 Through verstehen one can establish causality.
As a researcher it is very important to empathise.
His analysis is through “ideal types”-
Ideal types are formulated by the abstraction and combination of an
infinite number of elements which though are found in reality, are
rarely discovered in its exactness in real life.
It does not represent the ideal or morally good.
Examples: capitalism, court, democracy, terrorism
His analysis of capitalism:
Social action
“action is social, insofar as by virtue of the subjective meaning
attached to it by the acting individual it takes account of the
behaviour of other and thereby oriented in its course.”
Types of social actions <means and end>
1. Rational action
2. Value-rational action- any action in which ultimate values act as
a guide to the action. In this case the meaning of action lies in
carrying out the realisation of that specific value consideration
 for its own sake. The sole aim to carry out the action is
determined by the values of virtues of duties or any specific
principle that one changes.
3. Affective action
4. Traditional action
Modern industrialised society - rational action V/S traditional or
affective or value based.
Power and authority:
 Power implies strength or the capacity to control despite
resistance from others-imposing one’s will upon the
behaviour of another person.
 Legitimate power is authority
Three types of authority:
 Charismatic authority
 Traditional authority
 Rational-legal authority

Bureaucracy
 A very rationalised system of modern administration
 Culmination of rational-legal authority

Weber’s ideal type pf bureaucracy is comprised of some of the

following elements:
 High degree of specialisation
 Clearly defined division of labour
 Hierarchical structure of authority
 Administration based on written documents
 Impersonal relationship b/w the members of the organization
Iron cage of bureaucracy
 Dysfunctional of bureaucracy
1.Cog in the machine-depersonalisation/human element
vanishes-no room for creativity/inventiveness
2.Red tapism
Watch: flop show
Rationalisation
 Modern societies or capitalism could be sustained only by
rational and instrumental actions – rational accounting
methods – necessary to make life more predictable and
calculable – cannot leave anything to chance.
 Life was increasingly conducted through goal-oriented rational
actions and governed through rational-legal authority systems
with codified rules-earlier: explanations of social changes were
left to change.
 Rationalization was Evolent in all spheres of life – religion,
music, law, administration.

Economy, polity

Authority system in society

Social action

Rationalisation was most importantly was observed in religion.

  Its founding fathers are Martin Luther and John Calvin –
specific kind of Protestantism identified as Calvinism – belief
in the doctrine of predestination!
 They broke away from the catholic church, because they felt
the church had lost touch with the common people.
 Accumulation of wealth and prosperity were signs of gods
blessings.
 Once firmly established, capitalism lost its attachments with
its religious origins.
Criticisms of Weber
1. Spirit of work as a calling did exist in some Catholic beliefs.
2. Spirit of capitalism existed before Protestantism
3. Discuss his analysis of ‘iron cage of bureaucracy.’
4. Nevertheless, his analysis is pathbreaking – religion and
economy.