The social Theory of Georg Simmel

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1024612627

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-166627

Document type:: Monograph

Author:: Spykman, Nicholas J. http://d-nb.info/gnd/124229867

Title:: The social Theory of Georg Simmel

Place of publication:: Chicago

Publisher:: Univ. of Chicago Press.

Year of publication:: 1925

Scope:: XXIX, 297 S

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

Usage license:: Get license information via the feedback formular.

100 THE SOCIAL THEORY OF GEORG SIMMEL vented them from preserving the supreme power, for the power which is exercised over a large group is never a con- stant possession. It must be constantly acquired and de- fended anew if anything more than its shadow and name is to remain. The second way in which a group may obtain a social structure consisting of graded classes is by the accumula- tion of power from below. This occurs if out of a group of comparatively equal elements a certain number gain a special significance and out of this group there differentiate again a smaller number of especially powerful persons and so on until the development accommodates itself to a single leader. This type of development is the characteristic form in the economic world and in political life, but it is also manifest in the world of science. In the first process the resulting pyramid of superiority and inferiority was developed from above downward. In this latter form it is built from below upward. The classical example of a social structure resulting from a combination of both tendencies is the feudal state. As long as the full citizen—Greek, Roman, or Teutonic— knew no subordination to an individual, he was, on the one hand, on an equal footing with his fellow-citizens and, on the other hand, sharply differentiated from all below him. In the feudal state, the gap between the unfree and the free was bridged by a long series of intermediate classses. The king gave a part of his property and power to the nobles in exchange for service. There occurred a distribu- tion of power from above downward. But. on the other hand, the free farmer gave his land to the lord in exchange for protection. There was also an accumulation of power from below upward. These two sociological formations of unification through leveling and unification through gradation also

Access restriction

Copyright

fullscreen: The social Theory of Georg Simmel

Monograph

Table of contents

Download

Monograph

This page

Image fragment

Citation links

Citation recommendation