Max Webber 1864-1920

Max Weber 1864-1920

Not like anybody else
structure vs agency controversy, most sociologist concerned with collectivity, but weber had great concern with individual, some ways social psychological, what are the cost to the indv in regards to live in modernity, this view comes from his own life

Things that interest, obsess us, for weber comes from personal life, family issues
lifelong problems with depression, drinking, use of sleeping pills, smoking
tried to engage with therapeutic work, sided with his mom, bad family dynamic
breakdown after his father’s stroke/death, only help was travel, not a lot of money

everyone’s family is different, dynamic
meaning, interest in the individual, we are the carriers of the meaning, institutions don’t have goals, meaning, aspiration, it’s all us, we have a brain, spinal cord, even though quite similar to family friends, we still think in own particular way, must come to an understanding of social action bc if not life will be chaotic, a mess ex: go to store buy milk, cigarettes, cashier doesn’t know what milk, lottery tickets are etc, must be able to have a definition to a situation. Human beings create and use symbols to understand one another. What goes on btw us is not only able to understand with observing, positivism, most of what is important and is going on is beneath the surface, our motivations may not be accessible to us yet we have to try and understand ourselves and others just as important to look at as structures

Behaviour is social bc we take into account reaction of others

Responding to physiological in social

Weber did not like positivism, science not suffice to understand human behaviour
it’s okay to do that for understanding raw objects in nature ex.: rocks
we have to understand the things that are not obvious
if we have agency, make decision, when something happens to us, we can react, we can make decisions that will affect the world around us.

Bureaucratic structures; link btw weber’s idea and (see notes in outline)

• Always aware that nothing is binary, something is great, useful and has no problem, aware especially in modernity that indv moving in structures, there will be a cost to ppl
• Costs to indv with bureaucratic structure, in modernity, everything is operated by it ex: schools, hydro, army, this means that the brc structure supposedly in the structure ppl are hired bc of skills and credentials, not bc relative of someone (not always) one of signifiers of brc structure is impersonal, works better eliminate love, hatred, and other rational emotions. Less emotion, better business. Do duty impersonally. Owe loyalty to cooperation. Do job in accordance with job description not supposed to bring creativity, change is not valued
• There are areas of resistance  no matter the rules put into place
• ANDREI LOVES YOU

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