ancient cities

298 Gendered Space
These are upheld by a higher authority, typically with
input from religious bodies, through common law.
Peace prevails because individual interests overlap
with those of the community. Moreover, these traditional
communities are distinct, with powerful social
norms and bonds, and they share common enemies.
In contrast to the prevailing community interests
of the Gemeinschaft, the Kurwille is the modern
individual’s will. It is arbitrary and is based on
the notion of choice, rational judgment, the pursuit
of self-interest and pleasure, and the attainment
of power. Although the transition from
natural to rational will signifies freedom for the
individual, the gains are considered temporary. As
free agents, individuals form associations as a
means to achieving particular ends. Individuals
have distinctive personal property, and altruistic
deeds are viewed with suspicion.
Random choices may be made, but they are
deemed to be preferable for the individual making
those choices, with little attention paid to the common
good. Such motivation is found within the
industrial society with an accompanying fragmentation
of the close-knit Gemeinschaft community.
In this society, the metropolis and the super-/
supra-nation state have a central role in creating
and enforcing positive law; this central role of the
state alone signifies the advent of modern society.
Peace is maintained through convention by a
legitimate nation-state; it does not emerge from
within the community.
As society matures and citizens experience a shift
from Gemeinshchaft to Gesellschaft relations, their
character changes and kinship ties, community
bonds, superstitious beliefs, and connections to
nature are all eroded. The rise in commerce brings
a more rational, detached, and diverse society.
Although critics would contend that the theory
of Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft is naive and
romantic, the concepts are abstract. They represent
ideal types that were devised to assist with understanding
modern social structures. The classification
of the different relations, of human will, and
of the role of the state are necessarily abstract to
provide a deeper understanding of social relations.
In reality, the theory maintains that society will
progress from a period where Gemeinschaft relations
predominate, to one that is epitomized by the
Gesellschaft, before evolving into a new society. It
was this society that Tönnies was interested in
influencing. Ultimately, the theory is not pessimistic;
it contends that the prevalence of Gesellschaft
is a temporary condition, with new social relations
emerging in the modern world. A critical question
for urban studies must be: How can urban areas
overcome the seemingly negative aspects of
Gesellschaft relations and simultaneously reinvent
Gemeinschaft links from a bygone era?
Ruth McAreavey
See also Capitalist City; Community; Metropolis; Simmel,
Georg; Urban Sociology; Urban Theory
Further reading
Adair-Toteff, Christopher. 1995. “Ferdinand Tönnies:
Utopian Visionary.” Sociological Theory 13(1):58–65.
Roth, Guenther. 1971. “Sociological Typology and
Historical Explanation.” In Scholarship and
Partisanship: Essays on Max Weber, edited by
Reinhart Bendix and Guenther Roth. Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Tönnies, Ferdinand. [1887] 2002. Community and
Society: Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft. Translated
and edited by Charles Price Loomis. New York:
Courier Dover.
Truzzi, Marcello. 1971. Sociology: The Classic
Statements. New York: Oxford University Press.
Ge n d e r e d sp a C e
Gendered space is a central concept for feminist
scholars working in urban studies, geography, and
planning. Gendered space is not absolute but is
shaped by the dominant social and cultural institutions
that reinforce traditional gender roles. For
many years, gender as a subject was largely
ignored by academics and policymakers concerned
with urban spaces. In the late 1970s and early
1980s, feminist geographers and planners began
critiquing the situation of women in cities and
focusing on the various ways that women and men
experience these spaces differently. In particular,
scholars analyzed the spatial expectations about
women and their ability to move through urban
spaces, to engage in labor outside the home, and
to participate fully in the social and political system
created and dominated by men.