Ouzhan zdemir

16716
SPS102D-B4
Response Paper No:5
17.03.14
1- Industrialization is one of the most striking changes in the world history. Before this
change, world was run with agriculture and military forces, but after this shift industrial force
come front. The switch from agriculture and other pre-industrialized works to industrial ones,
some working conditions have changed. In agriculture you do not need to catch the time and
this means you should work hardly but not at exact times. In the movie, we can notice that
Charlie Chaplin and the other workers in non-stop, fast working style. Also in the pre-
industrialized societies the capacity of production is limited. It means, the time that you spent
during work does not change the amount of production. But in the industrialized societies,
time is money.
Life of the workers changed rapidly, before they worked maybe whole day but less effort.
Now they work again a whole day with more effort. This kind of changes led to constitute a
labour union. So industrialization has changed the all labour class system.
2- How does the metropolis grant personal freedom according to Simmel? (pp. 416-17) and
why is the metropolitan man free? (p. 418)

Simmels thoughts can be summarized as like that; at the beginning a small group of people
closely come together and try to protect themselves the other ones who does not look like
them. This togetherness blocked the freedom and inner-outer development of the people of
this small close society. Because they do not want to get hurt and they do not act the way that
they like. This people always thought benefits of society. A little bit later, this group of people
become larger and larger. Their population increases, also their ideas spread to others. The
growth gives them more individual freedom, because now they have more people and power
and their domestic unity starts to unwind. And their hierarchical relations soften and
limitations are removed. The ones, who live in metropolis, gain more individual freedom.
This kind of improvements make such organizations; governments, Christianity, some unions
etc.

In metropolis people live within a huge community and they do not have really threads from
outside that keep them all together. The ones who live in metropolis have more light
limitations instead of others who live in more rural areas. And this limitlessness gives more
Ouzhan zdemir
16716
SPS102D-B4
Response Paper No:5
17.03.14
freedom to ones who live in metropolis. But it does not mean freedom brings happiness, also
these people are so lonely in metropolis too.


REFERENCES
Georg Simmel The Metropolis and Mental Life. (New York: Free Press, 1950) 409-424