Difference Between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft (With Table)

Gemeinschaft refers to a community of individuals who have a strong sense of common identity and traditional rituals. These are the people who have a close personal relationship with each other. The people of Gemeinschaft share a common physical space and belief. Mutual bonds vibes of togetherness are the main basis of the Gemeinschaft community.

Gesellschaft is referred to as a society. It consists of individuals that have impersonal interactions and bonds. They are not in any personal relationship with each other. Due to this, face-to-face interaction is not mandatory in these societies. They communicate via telephones, written materials, etc.

Comparison Table Between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft

What is Gemeinschaft?

Gemeinschaft is a term that was first used by German sociologists. It was used to categorize social relationships into two types. “We Feeling” is the basis of this community. We can identify this community as the association of people who have a common attitude way of thinking.

Gemeinschaft is characterized as a community. It consists of individuals who are connected via personal relationships and traditional concerns. These individuals share common identities and rituals. People of this community share common physical spaces. It has also been stated that the base of the Gemeinschaft community is traditional social norms.

The feeling of togetherness, mutual bonds, common beliefs, and ritual is an essential part of this community. These social ties are formed by moral obligations and emotions. This concept of Gemeinschaft is mostly found in rural areas or small-scale areas. The rules of these communities are implicit, which means that no written laws are established.

Moral values social control are the basis of law. This community achieves its equilibrium through social control and conformism. The people of this community believe in social equality. Brotherhood, equality, mutual bond are part of this community. Amish and Hassidic are an example of the Gemeinschaft community.

What is Gesellschaft?

Gesellschaft can be characterized are a society or group of individuals who have impersonal relationships. These people have indirect social ties and interactions with each other. The interactions are also not direct, which means that face-to-face interaction is not necessary. They communicate via telephone or through written material.

We can say that the people of these societies are not linked via any personal bond. The interactions in these societies are derived from formal values and beliefs. The basis of Gesellschaft society is economic or political interests. We can say that interest replaces the personal bond that we can see in the Gemeinschaft community.

The concept of Gesellschaft is commonly found in urban areas’ large-scale industrial sectors because it is based on economic factors. So Gesellschaft does not exist in rural areas. Such societies are formed around large political organizations and the private sector. These organizations are controlled by a complex labour sector.

Gesellschaft society has explicit rules, which means that rules are established in written form. These societies are more strict. They achieve their equilibrium through laws, police, and prison. So all the members of this society obey the rules because it provides benefit to them. We can conclude that it is a formal organization or a society.

Main Differences Between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft

1. Gemeinschaft is translated as a community. On the other hand, Gesellschaft is translated as a society.
2. In the Gemeinschaft community, people have personal relationships. On the other hand, the people of Gesellschaft society have impersonal bonds.
3. Gemeinschaft community is a more informal type of community and has implicit rules. On the other hand, Gesellschaft society is more formal and has explicit rules.
4. Gemeinschaft is based on social control. On the other hand, Gesellschaft is based on laws and prison.
5. Gemeinschaft is situated in small-scale areas. On the other hand, Gesellschaft is situated in large-scale areas.

Conclusion

So the conclusion is that Gemeinschaft is a community for those groups of individuals who have common identities and beliefs. On the other hand, Gesellschaft is a society for those people who have common economic and political interests. Both societies have significant differences between them. The major difference is the structure and type of laws they enforce.

In Gemeinschaft, no strict rules in written form are present. They rely on social control and moral values. On the other hand, Gesellschaft has strict and written laws. They rely on punishment, police, and prison. There are many other differences also.

Both societies have different ways to achieve their equilibrium. Another major difference between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft is their characteristics. The sense of common identity is present in Gemeinschaft but not in Gesellschaft. The structure of both societies is very different. The area in which they are situated is also different.

Both organizations are part of our society. In Gemeinschaft, we can say it is more about personal bonds, rituals, feeling of togetherness. For Gesellschaft, we can say that it is about formal norms, political work, and indirect communication, i.e. via telephone or written material but not face-to-face.

References

1. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-531-90407-8_6
2. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.14361/transcript.9783839414262/html