Introduction

Tönnies's (1957 [1887]) seminal work Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft forms an important part of the historical discourse on the interpretation of collective social life. He offers a compelling view of community founded on authentic interhuman relationships set against a background of impending societal change. The mere mention of Gemeinschaft conjures up the quintessential image of a close-knit “rural idyll.” By comparison, Gesellschaft encapsulates mechanistic social relations, accelerated individualism and rational (e.g., economic) self-interest, all of which are associated with the increasing sociocultural dominance of “the city.” His work draws a sharp distinction between everyday social processes embedded in communal relations as contrasted with exchange dynamics. Contemporary academics continue to make reference to Tönnies's signature concepts in reflecting on the meaning and transformation of community. Often, however, such discussions comprise oversimplified representations of his typological constructs and social change theory. Far too little attention is focused on Tönnies's insights into the dimensional complexity of social entities and human volitional tendencies to “act” together. Some of his most substantive contributions concern the relational fabric of human (social) will and joint agency—the fundamental building blocks of collective community action.

This chapter opens with an overview of Tönnies's (1957[1887]) ideal type Gemeinschaft/ Wesenwille –Gesellschaft/Kürwille distinction. This is followed by a discussion of how his social change thesis and theoretical ideas have figured in the ongoing debate over community decline or “loss” (Nisbet 1967[1953]) and the so-called community question (Hennig 2007; Wellman 1979). Just as Tönnies intended, his “conceptual constructions” have proven valuable in describing and understanding the essential nature of varied forms of social relationships (1925a, 77). The second section of this chapter examines aspects of Tönnies's work on organized social life, human volition, social (common) will and collective agency. A key theme is the social-psychological and social constructionist foundations of emergent collective entities (e.g., corporations and communities). Of particular interest here is Tönnies's (1932) claim that concrete entities exist in and through the (social) will of their participants, that is, as active creations of human thinking and willing.