Occupational and status differences structurally restrict urban acquaintanceship
Evidence
As the population of a settlement increases, occupational differentiation becomes more complex, and with this differentiation, structural limitations to knowing begin to appear. Some part of the population becomes involved in relatively restrictive life rounds such that their opportunities for encountering other residents of the settlement are reduced. The warehouse clerk, for example, has less chance to meet his fellow citizens than does the street merchant. The housewife knows fewer people than does her shop-owning husband. In addition, these spatial restrictions on the intersection of life rounds are reinforced and compounded by status distinctions which make portions of the population “off limits” to other portions. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 77
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
- XREF: Connects to Simmel’s account of how specialization and metropolitan structure fragment the individual’s social circle.