Explain how Simmel’s distinction between the content and forms of interaction helped shape major points in Blau’s work.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Simmel argued that sociology should concern itself above all with analyzing the forms in which interactions occur; for it is only through interacting with others that we are able to realize our ambitions. Blau shared Simmel’s commitment to uncovering the basic forms of interaction through which individuals pursue their interests. Likewise he would endorse Simmel’s assertion that in exchange relations lay “the purest and most concentrated form of all human interactions” (1900/1971:43). Indeed, at the heart of Blau’s theoretical perspective is an attempt to analyze the dynamics of exchange—the interplay of rewards and sacrifice—that form the building blocks of all social relations.