Chapter Five - Weber's “Sozial” Action

Summary

Introduction

Max Weber appears to provide a systematic outline of his concept of the social, in terms of “social action”, in some of his most famous writings, namely the opening sections of his major but posthumous work, Economy and Society (E&S). Earlier in his career, Weber was more pessimistic about the term, for example when he states:

It is now no accident that the term “social” [des Sozialen] which seems to have a quite general meaning, turns out to have, as soon as one carefully examines its application, a particular specifically colored though often indefinite meaning. Its “generality” rests on nothing but its ambiguity. (Weber 1949 [1904], 68; 2012 [1922], 166)

Such remarks might remind us of elements of Latour's position with regard to this concept. The word “social” is so general, so apparently well understood, that it has lost any specific meaning and any real use. Weber, however, was involved in a different kind of argument, namely the relationship between the social sciences and what might be termed the “cultural sciences” (Kulturwissenschaft). But it should be noted that the term “social action” is not one that Weber used consistently or extensively throughout his writings. He does not use it once in his celebrated text The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Weber 2003 [1904–5]). Moreover, while the first sections of his Economy and Society are dedicated to a lengthy discussion of what constitutes social action and how important it is for sociology, we should, again, be careful. Even when writing Economy and Society, Weber did not immediately fix on one term for “social action”. Initially he used the term “Gemeinschaftshandeln” for social action and only later did he decide upon “soziales Handeln”. Part Two of Economy and Society was written before Part One (which he was working on between 1918 and 1920, the year that he died). These different terms, which remain in German editions, have been smoothed over in the English translation so that all the later uses of “Gemeinschaftshandeln” are rendered simply as “social action” (E&S 1, 339ff; W&G, 194ff.).