Bourgeois democracy renders invisible the class operation that produces consent

Evidence

If one expresses this not in terms of the impulse but rather in terms of success, the principle of sociability may be formulated thus: everyone should guarantee to the other that maximum of sociable values (joy, relief, vivacity) which is consonant with the maximum of values he himself receives. As justice upon the Kantian basis is thoroughly democratic, so likewise this principle shows the democratic structure of all sociability, which to be sure every social stratum can realize only within itself, and which so often makes sociability between members of different social classes burdensome and painful. But even among social equals the democracy of their sociability is a play. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 377 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Under hegemony, organized consent displaces direct coercion as the main instrument; Hegemony combines coercion with actively won consent, with consent in the lead; Hegemony is coercion combined with consent, won and perpetually reconstructed through class struggle. (+8 more)

Related

• Under hegemony, organized consent displaces direct coercion as the main instrument (similarity 0.81)
• Hegemony combines coercion with actively won consent, with consent in the lead (similarity 0.80)
• Sociability’s democratic reciprocity fails across different social classes (similarity 0.80)
• Hegemony is coercion combined with consent, won and perpetually reconstructed through class struggle. (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Sociability’s democratic reciprocity fails across different social classes #expands (0.82) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 377
• Ideology masks class by fragmenting people into individuals bound as consumers and citizens #corroborates (0.80)
• Class equilibrium creates the appearance of a neutral, autonomous state #corroborates (0.70)
• Hegemony is rule achieved through consent rather than coercion #responds-to (0.60) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 626
• Impartiality’s false symmetry neutralizes opposition and suppresses class content #corroborates (0.60)