Between Destructiveness and Vitalism: Simmel’s Sociology of Crowds

Between Destructiveness and Vitalism: Simmel’s Sociology of Crowds

This article studies Georg Simmel’s contribution to the sociology of crowds. The aim of the article is (1) to demonstrate the importance Simmel ascribed to the crowd topic, (2) to illustrate how his early view on crowds was inspired by the work of the major crowd theorists of his time, and (3) to re...

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Detaylı Bibliyografya
Yayımlandı:URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cm,
Yazar: Borch, Christian
Materyal Türü: Article ou chapitre numérique
Dil:Anglais
Baskı/Yayın Bilgisi: Conserveries mémorielles 2010
Konular:
crowds
Le Bon
Canetti
Sighele
Simmel
Tarde
vitalism.
foules
vitalisme
Online Erişim:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
id openedition-oai:revues.org:cm_744
record_format openedition
spelling openedition-oai:revues.org:cm_744 en https://journals.openedition.org/cm/744 2010-09-25T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/e4a2 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/ Between Destructiveness and Vitalism: Simmel’s Sociology of Crowds Conserveries mémorielles IHTP - Institut d'Histoire du Temps Présent CELAT info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/1718-5556 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cm Borch, Christian crowds Le Bon Canetti Sighele Simmel Tarde vitalism. foules Le Bon Canetti Sighele Simmel Tarde vitalisme This article studies Georg Simmel’s contribution to the sociology of crowds. The aim of the article is (1) to demonstrate the importance Simmel ascribed to the crowd topic, (2) to illustrate how his early view on crowds was inspired by the work of the major crowd theorists of his time, and (3) to reconstruct a vitalist image of crowds from Simmel’s later thought. The first part of the article portrays Simmel’s general perspective on the crowd as it appears in some of his key writings. The following parts are based on less familiar material, not least Simmel’s book reviews of Gustave Le Bon, Scipio Sighele, and Gabriel Tarde. Thus, the second part of the article analyzes Simmel’s discussions of Tarde and Le Bon. The third part demonstrates how Simmel’s explanation of destructive crowd behavior was inspired by his reading of Sighele’s work. Finally, the fourth part of the article examines the crowd in the light of Simmel’s essays on the metropolis and sociability. It is argued that this part of Simmel’s work allows for a vitalist interpretation of crowds, which differs greatly from what Le Bon, Sighele, and Tarde suggested, and which anticipates Elias Canetti’s theory of crowds. Cet article étudie la contribution de Georg Simmel à la sociologie des foules. Son objectif est 1) de démontrer l’importance accordée par Simmel à la foule comme sujet d’étude, 2) de montrer comment, dans ses premiers travaux, sa vision de la foule était inspirée des principaux théoriciens de l’époque, et 3) de restituer une conception vitaliste de la foule à partir des écrits plus tardifs de Simmel. La première partie de l’article trace un portrait général de la perspective de Simmel sur la foule telle que présentée dans ses principaux écrits. Les parties suivantes s’appuient sur des écrits moins étudiés, dont notamment les comptes-rendus de Simmel sur les livres de Gustave Le Bon, Scipio Sighele et Gabriel Tarde. La deuxième partie présente une analyse des commentaires de Simmel sur Tarde et Le Bon et la troisième partie montre comment l’explication de Simmel sur le comportement destructeur de la foule s’inspire de sa lecture des travaux de Sighele. Finalement, la quatrième partie examine la problématique de la foule à la lumière des essais de Simmel sur la métropole et la sociabilité. L’article défend que ces travaux de Simmel ouvrent la voie à une interprétation vitaliste des foules, qui se distingue particulièrement des conceptions de Le Bon, Sighele et Tarde, et anticipe la contribution théorique d’Élias Canetti.
collection OpenEdition Journal
language Anglais
format Article ou chapitre numérique
building 0/Bibliothèque numérique/
1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/
topic crowds
Le Bon
Canetti
Sighele
Simmel
Tarde
vitalism.
foules
Le Bon
Canetti
Sighele
Simmel
Tarde
vitalisme
spellingShingle crowds
Le Bon
Canetti
Sighele
Simmel
Tarde
vitalism.
foules
Le Bon
Canetti
Sighele
Simmel
Tarde
vitalisme
Borch, Christian
Between Destructiveness and Vitalism: Simmel’s Sociology of Crowds
description This article studies Georg Simmel’s contribution to the sociology of crowds. The aim of the article is (1) to demonstrate the importance Simmel ascribed to the crowd topic, (2) to illustrate how his early view on crowds was inspired by the work of the major crowd theorists of his time, and (3) to reconstruct a vitalist image of crowds from Simmel’s later thought. The first part of the article portrays Simmel’s general perspective on the crowd as it appears in some of his key writings. The following parts are based on less familiar material, not least Simmel’s book reviews of Gustave Le Bon, Scipio Sighele, and Gabriel Tarde. Thus, the second part of the article analyzes Simmel’s discussions of Tarde and Le Bon. The third part demonstrates how Simmel’s explanation of destructive crowd behavior was inspired by his reading of Sighele’s work. Finally, the fourth part of the article examines the crowd in the light of Simmel’s essays on the metropolis and sociability. It is argued that this part of Simmel’s work allows for a vitalist interpretation of crowds, which differs greatly from what Le Bon, Sighele, and Tarde suggested, and which anticipates Elias Canetti’s theory of crowds.
author Borch, Christian
author_facet Borch, Christian
author_sort Borch, Christian
title Between Destructiveness and Vitalism: Simmel’s Sociology of Crowds
title_short Between Destructiveness and Vitalism: Simmel’s Sociology of Crowds
title_full Between Destructiveness and Vitalism: Simmel’s Sociology of Crowds
title_fullStr Between Destructiveness and Vitalism: Simmel’s Sociology of Crowds
title_full_unstemmed Between Destructiveness and Vitalism: Simmel’s Sociology of Crowds
title_sort between destructiveness and vitalism: simmel’s sociology of crowds
publisher Conserveries mémorielles
publishDate 2010
container_title URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cm
url https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/cm/744
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