Full text : The social Theory of Georg Simmel

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Another variation of the superior-inferior relation is the
relationship indicated by the word “prestige.” This relationship,
 however, does not contain any superpersonal element.
 For that reason the existence of an active, spontaneous
 participation on the part of those who admit the
prestige of an individual is more clearly visible. Like all
other superior-inferior relations, it is a form of socialization
 involving an interaction between all the elements
concerned.!
The superior-inferior relationships may be classified
in three different types. The superiority may be exercised
by a single individual, by a group, or by an objective principle
 in the form of a social or ideal superindividual power.
Each of these three forms has certain specific characteristics
 which must be briefly enumerated.
Subordination to an Individual

The subordination of a group to a single individual
leads to a strong unification of the group. It occurs not
only if the group and its leader constitute already an internal
 unity, but also if the group is conscious of an opposition
 and antithesis between itself and its superior. In the
first case, the group elements become conscious of their
unity because their interests converge at a single point.
In the second instance, they are forced to strengthen their
unity in order to oppose more effectively the unified controlling
 power to which they are subordinate.
This is the case, not only in political groups, but in all
other organizations. In the factory, the ecclesiastical community,
 and in the school class, wherever the organization
terminates in a single head, there the common subordination
 leads to a strong unity independently of the fact
whether the relationship be one of harmony or opposition.

l Soz., pp. 184-37.
            
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