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SPATIAL RELATIONS OF SOCIAL FORMS 145 
the actual forces. The spatial conditions of an occurrence 
are often very indicative of the processes which have 
brought it about. Such is also the case with the processes 
of socialization. 
Interaction between human beings is conceived of and 
experienced as space-filling. If individuals live within cer- 
tain spatial boundaries and are isolated from one another, 
the space between them is empty space. But if they enter 
into reciprocal relations, the space between them seems 
filled and animated. The term “between” has a double 
meaning. It is a spatial and a functional concept. The re- 
sult is that the interaction between two elements, which in 
the last analysis consists of an immanent movement within 
each of the elements, comes to be conceived of as taking 
place between them in the sense of in a spatial location. 
The functional reciprocity is felt to be located between the 
two points in space occupied by the elements themselves. 
It manifests itself in space, and the spatial form becomes 
therefore characteristic of the reciprocity as a whole. An 
investigation of the spatial aspect of sociological forms will 
therefore throw light on the character of the processes of 
soclalization.! 
Spatially Exclusive and Non-exclusive Groups 
The fact that social forms manifest themselves in space 
makes it necessary to view them first of all in relation to 
certain fundamental characteristics of space. One of these 
characteristics is its exclusiveness. Just as space in general 
is unique and exclusive, so each part of space has a certain 
uniqueness and exclusiveness. A specific localized part 
of space cannot be conceived in the plural. It is unique and 
exclusive. This characteristic of space makes it possible 
to conceive of a plurality of fully identical objects. The 
1 Ibid., pp. 614-17.