Meanings of Actions Embedded in Value Systems and Norms

We now concentrate on the societal level of our tool: the Wiesmann Model:





Activities and their meanings for local actors are rooted in and dependent on aspects of their social environment. Hence, their meanings for and the aims of individual action are influenced by social values and norms. This means that the actions themselves are shaped by the termembeddedness of actors in their societal context. Social values and norms provide a framework for orientation and rules for evaluating the meaningfulness of action.


The action-theory approach links the meaning of action to processes shaped by value systems and social norms. We can thus address the question of how and to what extent actions are influenced, enforced and constituted by those norms and values. Wiesmann (1998) postulates that:


"Social networks, social control, and social hierarchies play a key role in the shaping of action, changes in action and processes of innovation." (Wiesmann 1998, p. 43)



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