Occupational and status divisions structurally limit who city dwellers can know
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
- XREF: Echoes Simmel’s point that the metropolis multiplies social circles while narrowing each individual’s penetration of any one — and prefigures Lofland’s later account of how role-masks and status categories substitute for personal acquaintance. — connects to: Urban space residents’ behaviors vary by employment status and group approval; Complex categorical placement depends on personal biographical knowledge; Preindustrial city manners were category-bound and sanctioned by elites (+1 more)
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 77
Broader Connections
- Social distance maintained by etiquette or replaced by spatial segregation undergirds hierarchy
#expands(0.55) - Urban space residents’ behaviors vary by employment status and group approval
#expands(0.50) - Preindustrial city manners were category-bound and sanctioned by elites
#expands(0.50) - Complex categorical placement depends on personal biographical knowledge
#complicates(0.45)