The Sociology Book

104

S T R A N G E R S A R E N O T R E A L L Y

C O N C E I V E D A S I N D I V I D U A L S

B U T A S S T R A N G E R S O F A

P A R T I C U L A R T Y P E

GEORG SIMMEL (1858–1918)

T

he Industrial Revolution

was accompanied in

Europe and the US by

urbanization from the 19th century

onward. For many people, this

resulted in increased freedom as

they experienced liberation from

the constraints of traditional social

structures. But in tandem with

these developments came growing

demands from capitalist employers

for the functional specialization of

people and their work, which meant

new restrictions and curtailments

of individual liberty.

German sociologist Georg

Simmel wanted to understand the

struggle faced by the city dweller

in preserving autonomy and

individuality in the face of these

overwhelming social forces. He

discovered that the increase

in human interaction that was

brought about by living and

Urbanization changed

the form of social

interaction that had

existed in rural society.

Strangers are not

really conceived as

individuals but as

strangers of a

particular type.

People were poorly equipped

to deal with the strangers

they encountered in

the metropolis.

These strangers took many

forms—from “the trader” to

“the poor”—and all were

defined by their social

relations with others.

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Mental life of the

metropolis

KEY DATES

19th century Urbanization

begins taking place on a large

scale in Europe and the US.

From 1830 Nascent sociology

claims to offer the means to

understand the changes

brought about in society by

the Industrial Revolution.

1850–1900 Key social

thinkers such as Ferdinand

Tönnies, Émile Durkheim,

and Karl Marx express

concerns about the effect

of modernization and

industrialization on society.

From the 1920s Simmel’s

work on the impact of urban

life influences the development

of urban sociology in the US

by a group of sociologists,

known collectively as the

Chicago School.