Georg Simmel

(1858-1918)

Department of Sociology University of Indonesia

Formal Sociology
The Focus of Sociology is neither social facts nor social action but social Interaction or sociation. Society consists of a web of patterned interactions, and that it is the task of sociology to study the forms of these interactions as they occur and reoccur in diverse historical periods and cultural settings.

People form groups and are determined by their group existence because of interaction

Web of Group-Affiliations
Individual is defined by the groups of which he is a member
Family Organizations School Workplace Church Friendships The web of group affiliations is an important means that people have of defining their individual identities.

Social Geometry
Simmel sought to understand the make-up and bond within social relationships Dyad A relationship that involves two individuals Ex. Best friends, lovers, married couples A dyad represents the strongest bond No formal structure within the relationship

Each experience by either individual impacts the other The relationship ceases to exist if either member departs

Social Geometry
Triad
A social group consisting of three equal members Indirect relationship that can both assist and hinder reciprocity within the group The group can survive if one member drops out, thus forming a new dyad The introduction of the third person, can help and hinder the relationship of other group members This person can become a mediator, can use the group to advance their own selfish agenda, and can use existing conflict to divide the group and take it over

Forms
Social relationships neither determined by external constraints nor are they utterly haphazard and unique to specific situations. Recurrent forms emerge from the process of interaction itself. Forms: Patterns of interaction that are apparent across a broad range of varying social and historical situations.

Forms
Studied patterns that make these events happen or as he coined it forms Forms can be organizations, relationships, rules that impact and govern the individuals of a society In connection with forms he studied contents Contents are considered to be the drives, interests, purposes that drive individual behavior

Forms of Sociation
Forms of sociation
all of the ways in which people come together to interact
domination

Examples: Conflict

Superordination and subordination division of labor sociability flirting cooperation compromise solidarity

Superordination and Subordination

The most important relationship that can exist is that of the leader and the followers This relationship must be reciprocal Followers must be in a position to follow all rules set forth by the leader Certain personal freedoms must always be afforded to followers in order for the leader to be successful

This relationship must be structured as a dyadic affiliation, if a third member is introduced the

structure is immediately weakened

Social Types
Simmel created social types which characterized different individuals within a society Each type needs to be present in order for society to exist Examples of types include: the stranger, the spendthrift, the mediator, the adventurer, the renegade, and the poor

Social Types
Social Types The type becomes what he is through his relations with others who assign him a particular position and expect him to behave in specific ways. His characteristics are seen as attributes of the social structure (Coser, 1977).

The Adventurer: One who breaks the continuity of everyday life

The Renegade: One who disrupts the social group The (Man) in the Middle: The person who stands half way between leader and subordinate within the social group.

Social Types
The Mediator: The person who may act impartially to resolve disputes or, alternatively, who may manipulate disputes between other group members for advantage. The Poor: The person at the bottom of society, defined by his or her dependence on others welfare and benevolence. The Stranger: The person who is present, but always distant from the group (Simmel?). The Stranger is a permanent member (geographically close), but always retains a critical (psychological, emotional and cultural) distance from the other members.

The Stranger
The stranger is defined by both nearness and remoteness;

Because the stranger is from somewhere else, the stranger is always set apart in the minds of group members; At the same time the stranger lives among and within the group, hence is near;
Unlike everyone else, the stranger lacks ties to members of the group that they share with each other; Example: the European Jews; the Judges of Italian Cities;

The Objectivity of the Stranger

For a stranger to the country and the city, what is stressed is again nothing individual, but alien origin; Strangers are not really perceived as individuals but as strangers of a certain type (race, religion, occupation);

The Objectivity of the Stranger

He confronts all of the problems with a distinctly objective attitude; The stranger are not bound by ties which could prejudice his perception, his understanding, and his assessment of data.

Group Expansion
As group size expands . . .
Intensity decreases Social differentiation The specialization of the individual Formal organization increases Stability and exclusivity increase

Group Expansion
The guilds were once ruled by the spirit of equality; Formerly, producer and merchant had been united into one person; After the sales of products increased, the merchant had to hire workers to produce more products; The group was differentiated into the merchant and workers/producers;

Personal and Collective Individuality The narrower the circle to which we commit ourselves, the less freedom of individuality we possess; If the circle enlarge, there is more room in it for the development of our individuality; but as parts of this whole, we have less of uniqueness; the larger whole is less individual as a social group;

A Phenomenological Formula The elements of a distinctive social circle are undifferentiated; Lack of differentiation among the members of a differentiated group---the social order of Quakers; Congregation and worship---individual in collective matters; Marriage---individual matter is socially regulated;

A Phenomenological Formula The elements of a circle that is not distinctive are differentiated; The US before the Civil War The New England/the North---the state as the combination of townships; The South---extensive counties as units of administration---the state as the whole is the site of true political significance;

A Dualistic Drive
We live: 1. As an individual within a social circle---with
tangible separation from its other members; 2. As a member of this circle --- with separation from other social circles.

A Heuristic Principle The differentiation drive as a heuristic principle since people tend to develop themselves not similar with other people;

The club; Fashion;

The Sociological Duality of the Family 1. As a unitary structure --- a collective individual within which each member develop his/her differentiation;

2. As an intermediate structure --- a shelter within which each member is socialized to encounter other social units;

The Meaning of Individuality

1. Individuality in the sense of the freedom and the responsibility for oneself that comes from a broad and fluid social environment; Freedom and Equality

2. Individuality in the sense of qualitative personality --- he/she distinguishes himself/herself from other people; Romanticism --- a division of labor

Isolation Isolation is a relation which is lodged within an individual but which exists between him/her and a certain group or group life in general; Characteristic of the Dyad: 1. Triviality; 2. Intimacy;