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9 - Georg Simmel and the Metropolitization of Social Life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 December 2020

By
Vincenzo Mele
Edited by
Peter Kivisto
Peter Kivisto
Affiliation:
Augustana College, Illinois
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Summary

Simmel’s focus on individuality in ambivalent interaction within the context of the metropolis constitutes a central feature of his contribution to sociology. He was not inclined to issue laments about the presumed end of the individual due to modern forms of domination; rather his work focuses on the possibilities for individual action in modern societies predicated on novel cultural values. This article illustrates that it is essential to view his work in terms of the dialectics between work and play, as well as that between the realms of necessity and leisure.

Vincenzo Mele is Associate Professor of General Sociology in the Department of Political Science at the University of Pisa. He is the author of Metropolis: Georg Simmel, Walter Benjamin, and Modernity (2011), Aesthetics and Social Theory: Simmel, Benjamin, Adorno, Bourdieu (2013), and Globalizing Cultures: Theories, Actions, Paradigms (with Marina Vujnovic, 2015). He is editor of the journal Simmel Studies.

Keywords

Associationcultureindividualityleisuremetropolissociability
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Social Theory , pp. 161 - 178
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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References

References

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Further Reading

Bauman, Z. 1991. Modernity and Ambivalence. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.Google Scholar
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De Simone, A. (ed.). 2004. Leggere Simmel. Itinerari Filosofici, sociologici ed estetici. Urbino: Quattroventi.Google Scholar
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Elias, N. 1978. The Civilizing Process. Vol 2: State Formation and Civilization. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Elias, N.1982. Power and Civility. New York: Pantheon Books.Google Scholar
Frisby, D. 1985. Fragments of Modernity: Theories of Modernity in the Work of Simmel, Kracauer and Benjamin. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Frisby, D.2002. Georg Simmel. Revised edition. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Gassen, K., and Landmann, M. (eds.). 1958. Buch des Dankes an Georg Simmel. Berlin: Dunker & Humblot.Google Scholar
Jonas, S. 1992. ‘G. Simmel. Sur l’estetique des villes historiques italiennes.’ In Rammstedt, O. and Watier, P. (eds.), G. Simmel et les sciences humaines (pp. 163–179). Paris: Mêridiens Klincksieck.Google Scholar
Leyendecker, B. 2000. ‘“Die Großstädte und das Geistesleben.” Einige Hintergrund informationen zu Georg Simmels Vortrag in der Gehe-Stiftung zu Dresden.’ Simmel Studies 10(1): 128–142.Google Scholar
Nedelmann, B. 1980. ‘Strukturprinzipien der soziologischen Denkweise Georg Simmels.’ Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie 32 S: 559–573.Google Scholar
Piselli, F. 2001. Reti. L’analisi di network nelle scienze sociali. Rome: Donzelli.Google Scholar
Rammstedt, O., and Dahme, H.-J. (eds.). 1984. Georg Simmel und die Moderne. Neue Interpretationen und Materialen. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar
Simmel, G. 1955. Conflict and the Web of Group-Affiliations. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Simmel, G. 1971a. ‘The Metropolis and Mental Life.’ In On Individuality and Social Forms: Selected Writings. Edited and with an introduction by Levine, Donald N. (pp. 324–339). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Simmel, G. 1971b. On Individuality and Social Forms: Selected Writings. Edited and with an introduction by Levine, Donald N.. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. [Originally published 1917 as Grundfragen der Soziologie. Individuum und Gesellschaft (Berlin and Leipzig: G. J. Göschen’sche Verlagshandlung GmbH).]Google Scholar
Simmel, G.1977. The Problems of the Philosophy of History: An Epistemological Essay. New York: Free Press. [Originally published 1892 as Die Probleme der Geschichtsphilosophie. Eine erkenntnistheoretische Studie (Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot).]Google Scholar
Simmel, G. 1980. Essays on Interpretation in Social Science. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
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Stiegler, B. 2003. ‘Georg Simmels “Die Großstädte und das Geistesleben” als Programmschrift der Kulturwissenschaft und Medientheorie.’ Simmel Studies 13, (1): 281–291.Google Scholar

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