Gemeinschaft Relationships By Ferdinand Tonnies

Ferdinand Tonnies is the sociologist who constructed two basic categories of social relationships. He did so through comparing premodern and modern social worlds. The first category of relationships is “Gemeinschaft”. “Tonnies called these emotion-based relationships.” (Page 16) Gemeinschaft relationships are formed from a close emotional bond between one another. Family, significant others, childhood friends, siblings, and your best friend are all examples of Gemeinschaft. That’s the rule for a relationship to be placed in this category; the relationship is held together and rooted by emotions and pleasure. Many people in the modern world may not have a Gemeinschaft relationship with their family members. My own understanding is that Gemeinschaft is a …show more content…
There are numerous possibilities and outcomes that could occur if one of the participants or both people in a Gesellschaft relationship started treating the relationship as Gemeinschaft. One possible outcome could look like a situation I have experience with the family I work for. I am a nanny and have been for a few years. When I first took the job I mostly wanted the money. I hadn’t had a Gemeinschaft relationship with the family yet. They were strangers to me and the only reason we formed a relationship is because they needed me and I needed them for money. As time went on and I spent the holidays with them, cared for the kids while they were sick, watched them grow, the more I began to love them as my own family. Now we are in a Gemeinschaft relationship. I still work for them for the desire of financial gain, but it’s different. I am emotionally invested and care for them. I sometimes even work for free now or I don’t mind if I get shorted on pay. I simply enjoy the family and love them to the point I feel called to help them when I can; not always for pay, but because now we have a mixed Gemeinschaft/ Gesellschaft