The poor resemble strangers in being both outside and constitutive of the group

Evidence

The poor are approximately in the situation of the stranger to the group who finds himself, so to speak, materially outside the group in which he resides. But precisely in this case a large total structure emerges which comprises the autochthonous parts of the group as well as the stranger; and the peculiar interactions between them create the group in a wider sense and characterize the true historical circle. Thus the poor are located in a way outside the group; but this is no more than a peculiar mode of interaction which binds them into a unity with the whole in its widest sense. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 417

Categorization

• XREF: Directly parallels Simmel’s own ‘The Stranger’ essay and Lofland’s stranger-categorization framework — core to this essay’s synthesis. The paradox that the outsider is bound into the group’s widest unity maps onto Julius’s flâneur position. — connects to: Living surrounded by strangers is a peculiar condition requiring explanation; Ethnic neighborhoods can shelter inhabitants from ever learning to navigate strangers; The poor stand outside the group as a form of being inside — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 435 (+3 more)
• QUESTION: How does this ‘true historical circle’ that includes the stranger extend to the flâneur’s wandering observer? The essay could develop that the stranger’s outside-position is productive of the group, not an exile from it.

Related

• The poor stand outside the group as a form of being inside (similarity 0.89)
• The poor form a social stratum united by society’s attitude, not by interaction (similarity 0.85)
• Oppressed persons first grasp their shared condition as being looked at from outside. (similarity 0.83)
• The stranger is simultaneously outside and inside the group’s structure (similarity 0.81)
• Living surrounded by strangers is a peculiar condition requiring explanation (similarity 0.80)
• Sociology overlooks the everyday situation of strangers surrounded only by other strangers. (similarity 0.80)
• Ethnic neighborhoods can shelter inhabitants from ever learning to navigate strangers (similarity 0.79)
• A stranger is someone personally unknown yet visually available (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• The poor stand outside the group as a form of being inside #corroborates (0.85) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 435
• The stranger embodies a simultaneous union of closeness and remoteness #expands (0.70) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 388
• The poor form a social stratum united by society’s attitude, not by interaction #corroborates (0.60) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 446