Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
In Search of the Real Max Weber: A Dynamic Interpretive Approach to Action and Agency

In Search of the Real Max Weber: A Dynamic Interpretive Approach to Action and Agency

Campbell, Colin

Hardcover

General Political ScienceGeneral SociologyPoverty & Social Work

ISBN10: 303193380X
ISBN13: 9783031933806
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Published: Aug 1 2025
Pages: 205
Weight: 0.91
Height: 0.56 Width: 5.83 Depth: 8.27
Language: English

This book uses the contrast between the theoretical positions of the two Max Webers - that is the Weber of the Protestant Ethic thesis and the Weber of the theory of action - as the basis for developing a theory of agency and an associated dynamic interpretive approach to action. The book critiques traditional theories of action for neglecting the physical dimension, for conflating agency with action, and contrasting the latter with behaviour. It argues that action is not just cerebral or communicative but inherently tied to effort, emotion, and imagination, with voluntarism understood in terms of attention instead of intention, and the exercise of will rather than choice. This is the basis of a dynamic interpretivist approach, one that integrates behavioural insights with interpretive sociology, highlighting how actors actively maintain their power of agency. The concept of character is also introduced as a crucial link between individual agency, ethical values, and cultural systems. This book will be of interest to researchers and students of sociology, anthropology, media studies, and criminology, as well as social theorists.

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General Sociology

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