Sign-In
Cart
Community and Society
Paperback
Publisher Price: $15.89
ISBN13: 9781953450180
Publisher: Mockingbird Pr
Published: Jan 12 2021
Pages: 296
Weight: 0.96
Height: 0.67 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Community and Society, or Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft, is a study of the spectrum of prototypical social groups as identified by German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies. First published in 1887, the work explores the relationship between community-based organizations and society-based organizations, and the human will that lies beneath each.
Ferdinand Tönnies was born in Schleswig in 1855, then under Danish rule. The third son of a wealthy farmer, Tönnies studied at the universities of Strassburg, Jena, Bonn, Leipzig, and Berlin, before receiving a doctorate in philology (the study of languages) from the University of Tübingnen in 1877.
The world around him was experiencing massive upheaval during Tönnies' early years. His own home of Schleswig changed hands from Danish to Prussian rule in 1864. Further, the Industrial Revolution radically altered the nature of city life, country life, and the relationships between the two. Within just 20 years, Prussia and Germany went from two-thirds rural and one-third urban to the complete reverse.
By the time of his graduation, he had developed a new interest in political philosophy and sociology. Free from the need to earn a living by his family money, Tönnies wrote extensively for professional journals and political periodicals. He published over 900 works throughout his life. But his best-known contribution is Community and Society, which he began to write at just 21 years old.
The work examines the intersections between the two disparate types of groups - Gemeinschaft, or community groups, and Gesellschaft, or social groups. Rather than identifying any one group as entirely Gemeinschaft or entirely Gesellschaft, Tönnies saw all social groups as existing along the spectrum, with community and society each on the opposite side. All social entities are either more Gemeinschaft-like or more Gesellschaft- like, but no group is 100% one or the other.
The ties that bind Gemeinschaft-leaning communities include mutual bonds and feelings of togetherness. They exist more strongly in families, neighborhoods, and religious communities. On the other side, Gesellschaft societies are more impersonal, held together by the members to meet individual goals. These connections are often self-interested and may have monetary or political ends, such as corporations, states, or certain social clubs.
Beneath each grouping lies the two types of human will, Wesenwille (essential or natural will) and Kürville (arbitrary will). In the expression of natural will, an individual will see himself as a means to serve the goal of the group. The group, and relationships within that group, are the purpose. But in the expression of arbitrary will, the individual's actions within the group are meant to further that person's goals. The group is merely a means to an end.
The ultimate conclusion? Man is a social being whose motivations are always a combination of Wesenwille and Kürville. Individuals will live in personal communities of kinship, and will also form new kinds of associations to meet their ends.
Although the book wasn't wildly successful in its first edition, a second 1912 edition experienced lasting popularity among students of sociology.
Throughout the rest of his career, Tönnies wrote and taught about sociology, social change, public opinion, and technology. He co-founded the German Society for Sociology in 1909 along with eminent sociologists Rudolf Goldscheid, Max Weber, and Georg Simmel. Tönnies served as the first president of the group but was ousted and lost his professorship at the University of Kiel in 1933 after criticizing the Nazis. He passed away 3 years later in 1936 at the age of 81.
3 different editions
Also available
Also in
General Sociology
I Can't Believe I Did That: The Game That Gives You Points for Sharing Awkward, Awesome, and Unforgettable Memories: Card Games
Katcher, Neil
Nadelberg, David
Other
Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea
Hunt-Hendrix, Leah
Taylor, Astra
Hardcover
Designed for Hi-Fi Living: The Vinyl LP in Midcentury America
Borgerson, Janet
Schroeder, Jonathan
Paperback
Guerrilleros and Neighbours in Arms: Identities & Cultures of Anti-Fascist Resistance in Spain
Marco
Paperback
Urban Revolutions: Urbanisation and (Neo-)Colonialism in Transatlantic Context
Kipfer, Stefan
Paperback
The Destiny of Modern Societies: The Calvinist Predestination of a New Society
Zafirovski, Milan
Paperback
Disciplining the Poor: Neoliberal Paternalism and the Persistent Power of Race
Schram, Sanford F.
Soss, Joe
Fording, Richard C.
Paperback
Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100
Kaku, Michio
Hardcover
The Agrarian Seeds of Empire: The Political Economy of Agriculture in Us State Building
Bauerly, Brad
Paperback
The Sociogony: Social Facts and the Ontology of Objects, Things, and Monsters
Worrell, Mark P.
Paperback
Revolution and Its Alternatives: Other Marxisms, Other Empowerments, Other Priorities
Brass, Tom
Paperback
What If?2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Randall Munroe
Paperback
How to Be Less Stupid about Race: On Racism, White Supremacy, and the Racial Divide
Fleming, Crystal M.
Hardcover
You Have Stept Out of Your Place: A History of Women and Religion in America
Lindley, Susan Hill
Paperback
The Day It Finally Happens: Alien Contact, Dinosaur Parks, Immortal Humans--And Other Possible Phenomena
Pearl, Mike
Paperback
Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets
Kretzmann, John P.
Paperback
Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World
McNeill, J. R.
Paperback
Screening Out the Past: The Birth of Mass Culture and the Motion Picture Industry
May, Lary
Paperback
The Clash of Globalizations: Neo-Liberalism, the Third Way and Anti-Globalization
Kiely, Ray
Paperback
Aging Out: An Exploration of Caregiving, Community, and How Americans Grow Old
Schiller, Lucy
Hardcover
If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All
Yudkowsky, Eliezer
Soares, Nate
Hardcover
AI for Good: How Real People Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Fix Things That Matter
Tyrangiel, Josh
Hardcover
There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Goldstone, Brian
Paperback
The Story of Your Life: How Social Media Shapes the Way We Experience Everything
Jezer-Morton, Kathryn
Hardcover
Doing Small Things with Great Love: How Everyday Humanitarians Are Changing the World
Eubank, Sharon
Hardcover
American Alt: A True Story of Madness and Friendship in a Fractured Country
Lockhart, Chris
Hardcover
There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Goldstone, Brian
Hardcover
Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online
Latifi, Fortesa
Hardcover
The Culting of America: What Makes a Cult and Why We Love Them
Reed, Amy
Mestyanek Young, Daniella
Hardcover
Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering
Gladwell, Malcolm
Paperback
Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile
Goodyear, Sarah
Gordon, Doug
Naparstek, Aaron
Hardcover
Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong--and What You Really Need to Know
Oster, Emily
Paperback
Scream with Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968-1980)
Johnson, Eleanor
Hardcover
The Tribe and I Have Spoken: The Definitive (Unofficial) Lore and Legacy from the Game's Smartest Surviving Loser
Kavutskiy, Alex
Cesternino, Rob
Hardcover
Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care
Kaba, Mariame
Hayes, Kelly
Paperback
Shadow Before the Flame: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Prelude to War
Katz, Catherine Grace
Hardcover
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement
Davis, Angela Y.
Paperback
Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home
Grant, Stephen Starring
Paperback
The Power Broker (Pulitzer Prize Winner): Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
Caro, Robert A.
Paperback
Who We Are Becoming Matters: The Courage, Wisdom, and Aloha We Need in a Timeplace of Collapse
Wong, Norma Kaweloku
Paperback
One Bad Mother: In Praise of Psycho Housewives, Stage Parents, Momfluencers, and Other Women We Love to Hate
Dickson, Ej
Hardcover
Te vas a morir y todavía no has empezado a vivir: 29 principios para vivir mejor (y con más sentido)
Moreno Montana, Uli
Falces, Laura
Paperback
Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves
Gilbert, Sophie
Paperback
Street Smarts: Trust Your Instincts, Outsmart Danger, and Stay Safe in a World That Isn't
Eve, Dannah
Hardcover
Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI
Veliz, Carissa
Hardcover
From Life Itself: Turkey, Istanbul, and a Neighborhood in the Age of Erdoğan
Hansen, Suzy
Hardcover
In Sickness and in Health: Love Stories from the Front Lines of America's Caregiving Crisis
Mauldin, Laura
Hardcover
Pay Attention: How the Algorithms and Media Wars Are Suppressing Truth and Rewiring Your Brain
Pakman, David
Hardcover
Our Minds Were Always Free: A History of How Black Brilliance Was Exploited--And the Fight to Retake Control
Davis, Lisa E.
Hardcover
Killers of Roe: My Investigation Into the Mysterious Death of Abortion Rights
Littlefield, Amy
Hardcover
Las Como Hablar para que Los Ninos Escuchen: y Como Escuchar para que los Ninos Hablen
Faber, Adele
Mazlish, Elaine
Paperback
How to Break Up with Your Phone, Revised Edition: The 30-Day Digital Detox Plan
Price, Catherine
Paperback
When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows . . .: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life
Pinker, Steven
Hardcover
One Nation Under Blackmail - Vol. 1: The Sordid Union Between Intelligence and Crime That Gave Rise to Jeffrey Epstein, Vol.1
Webb, Whitney Alyse
Paperback
Hated by All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind
Zengerle, Jason
Hardcover
Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home
Grant, Stephen Starring
Hardcover
Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster
Higginbotham, Adam
Paperback
Nostalgic Word Search for Adults and Seniors (Large/Big Print) (Large Print Edition)
Press Books, D&e
Paperback
Torched: How a City Was Left to Burn, and the Olympic Rush to Rebuild L.A.
Vigliotti, Jonathan
Hardcover