Mass action (sociology)
Encyclopedia
Mass action in sociology
refers to the situations where a large number of people behave simultaneously in a similar way but individually and without coordination.
For example, at any given moment, many thousands of people are shopping - without any coordination between themselves, they are nonetheless performing the same mass action. Another, more complicated example would be one based on a work of 19th century German
sociologist Max Weber
, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
: Weber wrote that capitalism
evolved when the Protestant ethic influenced large number of people to create their own enterprise
s and engage in trade
and gathering of wealth
. In other words, the Protestant ethic was a force behind an unplanned and uncoordinated mass action that led to the development of capitalism.
A bank run
is mass action with sweeping implications. Upon hearing news of a bank's anticipated insolvency, hundreds or thousands of bank depositors simultaneously rush down to a bank branch to withdraw their deposits, and protect their savings.
More developed forms of mass actions are group behavior and group action
.
.
's work, Foundation. The main character, Hari Seldon
, uses mass action to foresee the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a dark age lasting thirty thousand years before a second great empire arises. With this, he hopes to reduce that dark age to only one thousand years by creating an Encyclopedia to retain all current knowledge.
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
refers to the situations where a large number of people behave simultaneously in a similar way but individually and without coordination.
For example, at any given moment, many thousands of people are shopping - without any coordination between themselves, they are nonetheless performing the same mass action. Another, more complicated example would be one based on a work of 19th century German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
sociologist Max Weber
Max Weber
Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber was a German sociologist and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself...
, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is a book written by Max Weber, a German sociologist, economist, and politician. Begun as a series of essays, the original German text was composed in 1904 and 1905, and was translated into English for the first time by Talcott Parsons in 1930...
: Weber wrote that capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
evolved when the Protestant ethic influenced large number of people to create their own enterprise
Organization
An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.There are a variety of legal types of...
s and engage in trade
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
and gathering of wealth
Wealth
Wealth is the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions. The word wealth is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem...
. In other words, the Protestant ethic was a force behind an unplanned and uncoordinated mass action that led to the development of capitalism.
A bank run
Bank run
A bank run occurs when a large number of bank customers withdraw their deposits because they believe the bank is, or might become, insolvent...
is mass action with sweeping implications. Upon hearing news of a bank's anticipated insolvency, hundreds or thousands of bank depositors simultaneously rush down to a bank branch to withdraw their deposits, and protect their savings.
More developed forms of mass actions are group behavior and group action
Group action (sociology)
In sociology, a group action is a situation in which a large number of agents take action simultaneously in order to achieve a common goal; their actions are usually coordinated....
.
Epidemiology meaning
In epidemiological (disease) models, assuming the "law of mass action" means assuming that individuals are homogeneously mixed and every individual is about as likely to interact with every other individual. This is a common assumption in models such as the SIR modelCompartmental models in epidemiology
In order to model the progress of an epidemic in a large population, comprising many different individuals in various fields, the population diversity must be reduced to a few key characteristics which are relevant to the infection under consideration...
.
Popular Culture
This idea serves as the main plot theme in author Isaac AsimovIsaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
's work, Foundation. The main character, Hari Seldon
Hari Seldon
Hari Seldon, a fictional character, is the intellectual hero of Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series. In his capacity as mathematics professor at Streeling University on Trantor, he developed psychohistory, allowing him to predict the future in probabilistic terms...
, uses mass action to foresee the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a dark age lasting thirty thousand years before a second great empire arises. With this, he hopes to reduce that dark age to only one thousand years by creating an Encyclopedia to retain all current knowledge.
See also
- Social action
- Collective behaviorCollective behaviorThe expression collective behaviour was first used by Robert E. Park, and employed definitively by Herbert Blumer, to refer to social processes and events which do not reflect existing social structure , but which emerge in a "spontaneous" way.Collective behavior might also be defined as action...
- Collective effervescenceCollective EffervescenceCollective effervescence is a perceived energy formed by a gathering of people as might be experienced at a sporting event, a carnival, a rave, or a riot...