Social formations form complex unities structured in dominance rather than expressive identities.

Evidence

For such a thing as vocation to be possible, there must exist that harmony, whatever its origin, between the structure and development of society, and individual qualities and impulses. It is this general premise that constitutes the ultimate basis of the idea that for every personality there exist a position and a function in society to which he is called and which he must seek and find. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 191 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

On the other hand, Simmel was fond of portraying certain human types in terms of the general category of orientation to the world they embodied. Just as all the contents of the world can be defined in terms of the category of science, or religion, or love, so one can speak of the man of science, the religious man, or the erotic man—individuals whose experience is dominated by one of the forms of orientation. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 157 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Society operates as a complex formation structured in dominance with relative institutional autonomy; Ideological positions reproduce social positions in transfigured form.; Individuality emerges from the layering and clash of overlapping social types — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition: A Guide…, 284 (+13 more)

Related

• Social types can embody an all-dominating orientation to the world (similarity 0.89)
• Society presupposes a harmony between its structure and individual inner callings (similarity 0.84)
• Societies require a mix of discord and harmony to take determinate shape (similarity 0.83)
• Ideological positions reproduce social positions in transfigured form. (similarity 0.83)
• Clique-dominated society demands self-representation as a type rather than as an individual. (similarity 0.82)
• Individuality emerges from the layering and clash of overlapping social types (similarity 0.81)
• Society operates as a complex formation structured in dominance with relative institutional autonomy (similarity 0.80)
• Bureaucracy is a stylized model of society’s positional structure (similarity 0.80)
• Sociology’s proper object is the forms relating two or more individuals (similarity 0.79)
• Society is a concrete generality neither reducible to individuals nor abstract (similarity 0.79)
• Each person is a fragment even of their own singular type (similarity 0.79)
• Individual and social liberation must be waged together but not assumed interdependent (similarity 0.79)
• Class formation allows more positions than simple European Marxism permits. (similarity 0.79)
• Human essence is the ensemble of social relations, not an individual abstraction (similarity 0.79)
• Any social group can act as individual or aggregate depending on its relational frame. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Society presupposes a harmony between its structure and individual inner callings #contradicts (0.85) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 191
• Mode of production can assign dominance to politics or religion in different epochs #exemplifies (0.80)
• Social types can embody an all-dominating orientation to the world #complicates (0.80) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 157