Theorists should understand the metropolis rather than judge it

Evidence

To the extent that such forces have been integrated, with the fleeting existence of a single cell, into the root as well as the crown of the totality of historical life to which we belong—it is our task not to complain or to condone but only to understand. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 761

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Simmel’s methodological stance — understand rather than condemn — mirrors the essay’s neutral analytic lens on Julius’s unreliable observer.
• XREF: connects to: Abstracted theory that loses local situatedness betrays Cultural Studies’ core method.; Theory is best engaged as struggle rather than fluent agreement; Intellectual work must produce new knowledges rather than recirculate known conclusions

Broader Connections

• Abstracted theory that loses local situatedness betrays Cultural Studies’ core method. #corroborates (0.65)
• Theory is best engaged as struggle rather than fluent agreement #expands (0.40)
• Intellectual work must produce new knowledges rather than recirculate known conclusions #expands (0.40)