2022

Siisiäinen, Martti

Simmel defines sociology as the “geometry of social forms” (Formen) such as class, institutions, parties, associations, media, etc. The structure of society can be understood as the whole of these forms. Various kinds of social processes, such as competition, solidarization, (dis)trust, exclusion/inclusion, deprivation, and atomization determine the contents (Inhalt) of these circles. In this chapter I will analyze the development of civil society in Finland through Simmel’s formal sociology and the concept of mass mobilization (Nihilismus/Radikalismus). The general conclusion is that the pluralist political governance of the 1970–1980s, based on citizens’ cross-cutting circle memberships, transcending — for the most part — discernible class boundaries is transforming toward a society based on non-transparent and controversial class-based memberships and in which relations between the power elite and more or less atomized citizens are increasingly direct, without intermediation by democratic associations. This “governance from a distance” creates fertile soil for populist mass movements, the polarization of society and sudden political fluctuations. These theorizations are backed by empirical studies on the transformation of civil society in Finland.