The dispute
The dispute is a chapter in the sociology of the sociologist Georg Simmel , published in 1908 . The chapter in which Simmel deals with social conflicts has become a classic text in the sociology of conflict .
Simmel's microsociological approach
In the context of a typology of “dispute”, Simmel supplements the macro-sociological research object of organizations (such as parties, states, families and guilds) in the fourth chapter of his “sociology” with the micro-sociological social forms of interaction between individuals and deals with their respective social effects. "Dispute" is generally understood by Simmel as the creation of a unity from differences. The creation of this synthesis is independent of the more or less socially harmful intentions of the actors; their occurrence eludes causal rationality. Methodologically, Simmel's approach is one of the early interactionist theories; it is based neither on the analysis of individual actions nor the large social structures or institutions, but on the consideration of the "forms of interaction" between individuals (Simmel anticipates the term social interaction here) and the dynamics between the two levels.
If every social interaction is a form of socialization , then, according to Simmel, struggle - “one of the most lively interactions among people” - must also be such a form. The interaction of negative and positive elements makes the dispute socially functional. What actually “dissociates” (separates), however, are the causes and individual motives of the struggle such as hatred and envy , need and desire . These - Simmel calls them the "content" of the dispute - are not "in and of themselves something social"; but they do so by bringing people into “forms of interaction”. The struggle as such a form of socialization is a "remedial movement against the divergent dualism " and, like the most violent outbreaks of a serious illness, only serves the purpose of recovery.
The struggle as the dissolution of opposing tensions has its raison d'être in every society insofar as it represents an adequate counterweight to the existing “positive social forces”. Simmel also finds positive aspects of the argument in the rivalry , which may not have a positive effect from the perspective of the individual, but can have a positive overall effect. In his typology, Simmel provides a detailed description of various controversial phenomena. The legal dispute was characterized by its focus on objectivity or religious conflicts through the exclusion of competition. In the institution of marriage , an acceptable amount of discrepancies holds the bond together. In the Indian caste system, enmity acts as a reproductive factor of the existing social structure , on the one hand it serves as a demarcation and on the other hand as an identity-creating feature. The fight against external or internal enemies (e.g. heretics ) strengthens the union of groups and has a centralizing effect.
Antagonisms thus play a “positive and integrating role” by helping to shape and influence the structure of society. There are few references to the mechanisms of conflict resolution in Simmel. In addition to "victory" (or defeat) and "compromise", the exhaustion of the conflicting parties is indicated as a possibility of ending the dispute. Towards the end of his consideration, Simmel recurs on individual psychological “mood (s) of the soul” such as “forgiveness” or “irreconcilability”, which decide whether the “bitterness of the fight” is forgotten, repressed or remains unforgotten.
The competition
Simmel treats the type of competition as a central example. The competition has an "enormous socializing effect"; it forces the "applicant who has a competitor next to him and often only becomes the actual applicant through this, to meet the advertised and to connect with him" in order to build bridges (e.g. to the customer), of course often "to the price of personal dignity and the material value of production ”. The competition between the producers brings about the "highest intellectual achievements", but also the subordination of the leaders to the "instincts or whims of the masses". Competition plays an important role in the “synthesis of society”.
In the course of his work, Simmel also examines mechanisms and institutions of voluntary or compulsory limitation of competition such as guilds , cartels , law and morality, socialist planned economy (as far as one could imagine them at the time) and religious communities. Members of religious communities do not enter into direct competition with one another, but rather "compete" for the salvation of the soul, which, however, can in principle be granted to everyone. The religious zeal of individuals does not exclude others from the religious community. The same applies to the pursuit of artistic etc. top performances.
Continuing effect
Simmel's approach was effectively taken up again in 1956 in the USA by Lewis A. Coser and theoretically developed ( The Functions of Social Conflict ). The royal mechanism analyzed by Norbert Elias - the compulsion to compete for prestige within the French aristocracy as a socially integrative, competition-limiting instrument of absolutist rule - is mentally prepared by Simmel; it can be interpreted as a special case of Simmel's principle of competition among many for the favor of one. With Niklas Luhmann, in turn, Simmel not only connects a functional and differential-theoretical analysis of conflicts, but also the social constructivist perspective.
But the question remains, how the often fleeting forms of socialization that arise in conflict can have a lasting effect on structure. The dispute can be seen as an expression of an “impressionistic” social philosophy, which the art historian Richard Hamann referred to as early as 1907 with a view to Simmel's philosophy of money and, more recently, David Frisby . What is important is not what is in charge, but what is moving and fleeting, for example the countless possibilities for relationships in the big city, which provide enough occasions as well as an ideal setting for arguments and attempts at agreement.
See also
literature
- Georg Simmel: The dispute , in: Sociology. Investigations into the forms of socialization (= complete edition volume 11), ed. by Otthein Rammstedt . stw 811, Frankfurt 1922, pp. 284–382 (first published by Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1908)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rena Schwarting: Review of Der Streit (Georg Simmel, 1908) on www.sozialtheoristen.de , July 14, 2008.
- ^ Richard Hamann: Impressionism in life and art. 2nd edition Marburg 1923, p. 169.
- ^ David Frisby: Georg Simmel. Key Sociologists. Routledge 2002.
- ↑ Georg Simmel: Die Großstädte und das Geistesleben , In: Die Großstadt. Lectures and essays on the city exhibition (= yearbook of the Gehe Foundation Dresden, Volume 9), ed. by Theodor Petermann, Dresden 1903, pp. 185–206.