gemeinschaft and gesellschaft

Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft are sociological categories introduced by the German sociologist Ferdinand Tnnies for two normal types of human association. (A normal type as coined by Tnnies is a purely conceptual tool to be built up logically, wheras an ideal type, as coined by Max Weber, is a concept formed by accentuating main elements of a historic/social change.) Tnnies' concepts of both Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, conceptionally strictly to be separated from each other, are fully discussed in his work Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (1887, seven more German editions). Only the 2nd edition of 1912 turned out to be a success, and the juxtaposition of these two terms belonged to the general stock of concepts German pre-1933 intellectuals were quite familiar with and quite often misunderstood.

Gemeinschaft

Gemeinschaft (often translated as community) is an association in which individuals are oriented to the large association as much if not more than to their own self interest. Furthermore, individuals in Gemeinschaft are regulated by common mores, or beliefs about the appropriate behaviour and responsibility of members of the association, to each other and to the association at large; associations marked by "unity of will" (Tnnies, 22). Tnnies saw the family as the most perfect expression of Gemeinschaft; however, he expected that Gemeinschaft could be based on shared place and shared belief as well as kinship, and he included globally dispersed religious communities as possible examples of Gemeinschaft. Gemeinschafts are broadly characterized by a moderate division of labour, strong personal relationships, strong families, and relatively simple social institutions. In such societies there is seldom a need to enforce social control externally, due to a collective sense of loyalty individuals feel for society. Historically, Gemeinschaft societies were racially and ethnically homogenous.

Gesellschaft

Gesellschaft (often translated as society or civil society), in contrast, describes associations in which, for the individual, the larger association never takes on more importance than individual self interest, and lack the same level of shared mores. Gesellschaft is maintained through individuals acting in their own self interest. A modern business is a good example of Gesellschaft, the workers, managers, and owners may have very little in terms of shared orientations or beliefs, they may not care deeply for the product they are making, but it is in all their self interest to come to work to make money, and thus the business continues. Unlike Gemeinschafts, Gesellschafts emphasize secondary relationships rather than familial or community ties, and there is generally less individual loyalty to society. Social cohesion in Gesellschafts typically derives from a more elaborate division of labor. Such societies are considered more susceptible to class conflict as well as racial and ethnic conflicts. Since, for Tnnies, Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft are normal types, he considered them a matter of Pure Sociology, whereas in Applied Sociology, on doing empirical research, he expected to find nothing else than a mix of them. Nevertheless, following Tnnies, without normal types one might not be able to analyze this mix.

References

Ferdinand Tnnies, Community and Civil Society ed. Jose Harris, (Cambridge: 2001)
(Ferdinand Tnnies), Ferdinand Tnnies Gesamtausgabe {TG}, critical edition, 24 vols., ed. Lars Clausen et al., (Berlin/New York (de Gruyter): 1998- )