The article discusses the potential of Simmel's nuanced relational approach to contribute to the contemporary study of world politics, and demonstrates its utility in two particular areas of research: the study of unbundled sovereignty and mobility in late modernity and the study of empty spaces in IR. Simmel's approach offers scholars of contemporary world politics an innovative conceptualization of the relations between physical and symbolic space ('the physical-symbolic axis') and between space and time ('the spatio-temporal axis') and a set of practical analytical tools to apply in IR research by defining the foundational qualities of space (exclusivity, divisibility, containment, positioning, and mobility) and suggesting a typology of distinct sociospatial formations: organized space, governed space, fixed space, and empty space. This article suggests a preliminary research agenda for the study of space and social relations in IR by lending insight from Georg Simmel's classical sociology of space. We conclude with several ways to further articulate Simmel’s ideas in the discipline.Īssumptions regarding space and spatiality exist in all major theoretical traditions in international relations, from realism to constructivism, but the mutual constitution of space and social interaction in the study of world politics requires further conceptual development in its own right. Recent work in economic sociology and the sociology of culture, however, builds on Simmel’s growing reception within relational sociology. This formalist reception consolidated Simmel’s status as a classic in network research and symbolic interactionism during the 1980s. We find Simmel became an anchor for change in urban and conflict studies, where scholars moved from his earlier functionalist reception toward a formalist interpretation. Employing a network analysis of references to Sim- mel since 1975, we examine how Simmelian concepts have been adopted in research. We artic- ulate Simmel’s sociological orientation by elaborating the concepts of form, interaction, and dualism. This review remedies this situation by evaluating Simmel’s legacy in American sociology since 1975. A broad understanding of his influence, however, remains elusive. Recent decades have seen Georg Simmel’s canonical status in American so- ciology solidify and his impact on research expand. Drawing on his analysis of individuals’ engagement with the coherence of God, I explore conservative evangelicals’ systems of religious intersubjectivity to show how attention to the social effects of relations with sacred figures can deepen understanding of the formation of urban religious subjectivities. I bring together Simmel’s urban analysis with his approach to religion, focusing on Christianities and individuals’ relations with sacred figures, and suggest this perspective opens up how forms of religious practice respond to experiences of cultural fragmentation in complex urban environments. I argue that Georg Simmel’s writing on cities offers resources to draw out further the significance of “the urban” in this emerging field. This article examines the growing scholarly interest in urban religion, situating the topic in relation to the contemporary analytical significance of cities as sites where processes of social change, such as globalization, transnationalism and the influence of new media technologies, materialize in interrelated ways.
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