The bearers of moral or social order, moreover, are organized collectivities. Following Simmel, Park sees collectivities not as substantive entities but as networks of interaction. Crowds are made up of persons interacting through milling, sects through the interstimulation of unrest, racial groups through the communication of shared grievances, publics through the circulation of news. Through their various processes of communication, collectivities attain some consensus regarding values and goals. Concerted action is thus the dynamic aspect of moral order and social control. Sociology must therefore be “the science of collective behavior,” not, as for Simmel, the science of the forms of association pure and simple.

XREF: Connects to symbolic interactionism and the Chicago School tradition that grew from this Park/Simmel lineage. Also parallel to modern network sociology.

DEFINE: Distinguishes Simmel's/park's relational view of collectivities as interaction networks from substantive entities.

Georg Simmel, on individuality and social…, loc. 130