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+# Max Weber #
+Max Weber is an influential theorist of society. Like [[Karl Marx]] and
+[[Emile Durkheim]], Weber developed a way of thinking about society as a
+system, which made it possible for people to examine social patterns
+and behaviors and find new kinds of explanations. Unlike these other
+key social theorists, Weber's theory of society is based on
+action. This means that a society comes into being through the
+individual and collective actions of its members. Social action has
+meaning and purpose. It accomplishes something valuable for society
+and its members in some way. Social forms, groups, identities and
+institutions are, in that sense, embodiments of the meaningful
+social actions of individuals and groups.
+## The four types of social action ##
+In Weber's theory, social actions can be classified according to what
+kind of meaning they possess, and following from this, what kind of
+motivation actors have in pursuing them. There are four types of
+social action:
+* Traditional: I do it because this is how it has always been.
+* Affective: I do it because it expresses my emotions.
+* Value-rational: I do it because this is the best possible way to
+  advance a collective goal of my society.
+* Instrumental-rational: I do it because I get the most for the least
+  amount of effort.
+Whole societies can be defined by the types of social actions one sees
+in them. Here Weber is particularly controversial for several
+reasons. Weber sees societies as falling on a scale of progress. With
+the passage of time, societies move from a traditional orientation and
+a traditional social organization to a modern orientation and
+organization. In a traditional society, the main basis for action is
+tradition, meaning specifically, a rule upheld by the group and never
+questioned. Observing tradition is an end in itself, and maintaining
+the past is the main orientation of all members of this society;
+people do not seek to do things differently for any reason. In more
+recent years, people have begun to question this view of rural and
+kinship-based societies as too simple.
+## Modernity and rationalization ##
+Weber's negative view of traditional society highlights one of his key
+concepts: rationalization. As mentioned earlier, Weber concluded that
+all societies develop from a traditional orientation toward a more
+[[modernity|modern]] one. This process involves allowing people to pursue different
+kinds of goals. The range of different kinds of social actions
+expands, and more specialized domains develop, each fulfilling a
+different motivation. People move away from a traditional motivation
+for action and start to develop new ways of being in which they
+evaluate the purpose of their actions in a different light. Most
+importantly, people start to work toward collective goals, and
+individuals make choices by weighing the costs versus the benefits. In
+other words people increasingly look at their own lives in terms of
+the means and the ends. This is what Weber means by rationalization.
+For Weber, a modern society is a highly rationalized society in which
+all actions are evaluated in terms of means and ends, and very few
+actions have affect and tradition as the primary motivation. A modern
+society has many specialized institutions. Forms of behavior and
+action which express emotion and tradition are not allowed to
+interfere with the rational rules and systems in the business sphere
+and the smooth functioning of bureaucracy. People in modern society
+are expected to behave rationally and evaluate every action in terms
+of efficiency and cost-effectiveness, at least in the spheres of
+commerce.
+Weber's theory of society is also, in this sense, a theory of
+modernity. Increasingly, social scientists have questioned the idea
+that all societies change in this way. Societies do not progress from
+tradition to modernity, at least not a single path. In so-called
+modern societies, people have a variety of orientations, and are not
+exclusively rational, even in their economic decisions. Also, people
+in so-called traditional societies behave in dynamic, individualistic
+ways, and these societies can both embrace change and adapt traditions
+to new situations. In other words, there is a degree of rationality in
+traditions which Weber did not recognize.
+It seems more like there are multiple modernities, and modern
+institutions are not purely rational. Instead the same kinds of social
+actions can be found in all societies.
+## Further reading ##
+Bellah, Robert N. 1957. Tokugawa Religion: The Values of
+Pre-Industrial Japan. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press.
+Elwell, Frank. 1996. “Verstehen: The Sociology of Max Weber.” Rogers
+State University Faculty
+Pages. http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Weber/SocOfWeber.htm.
+Weber, Max. 1905. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
+Capitalism. New York: Allen and
+Unwin. https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/weber/protestant-ethic/index.htm.
+———. 1946. “Religious Rejections of the World and Their Directions.”
+In From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, edited by C. Wright Mills and
+H. H. Gerth, 323–59. New York: Oxford University Press.
+-----
+<WRAP box similar>~~SIMILAR~~</WRAP>

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