Compromise, Social Justice and Resistance: an Introduction to the Political Sociology of Georg Simmel

Abstract

Compromise, the principal object of Simmel’s political sociology, constitutes the framework of his political triptych, which articulates his two key concepts of Wechselwirkung and exchange. Simmel uses it to develop an anthropological concept of politics that allows him to touch on the meanings of social justice in political modernity. Faced with a sense of justice that is limited in its general value, and different from a social norm of justice that is oblivious to the particularity of the circumstances to which it is applied, compromise enables a pluralist social justice capable of renewing the commitment to politics in modern society. Simmel reflects on this commitment with the help of the concept of compromise as a resistance to society within society.

The collection of “quality” umbilical cord blood for stem cell treatments: conflicts, compromises, and clinical pragmatism

“…But the balancing of power can shift between stakeholders, if understanding around particular practices shift in light of emerging evidence (Papilloud and Rol 2004;Hussenot 2010). Adopting a clinical pragmatist approach has flagged two aspects of the debates surrounding the acquisition of 'quality' UCB that have the potential to challenge current understanding and therefore shape power dynamics between stakeholders.…”

“…Participants in this study questioned if the purpose of cord clamping was to protect the new mother's health -"stop women bleeding heavily;" facilitate the health of the neonate -"prevent babies from becoming over-transfused;" or relieve the blood disease sufferers -"enough blood for a clinical unit." Future findings from research being conducted by midwives and obstetricians regarding the implications of cord clamping on neonates (Mercer and Erickson-Owens 2014) will undoubtedly contribute to, and continue, the destabilisation of understanding surrounding the purpose and practice of cord clamping, which in turn has the potential to influence and undermine the present balance of power between stakeholders (Papilloud and Rol 2004;Hussenot 2010).…”

“…Compromises are unpredictable, rarely fixed or static, particularly if new evidence emerges, and therefore the balance of power can shift between stakeholders (Papilloud and Rol 2004;Hussenot 2010). This is significant for the debates surrounding UCB collection and maternity practices as recent clinical trials in cord blood transplantation, ongoing scientific research to develop techniques to expand small volumes of UCB collected, and current large scale cohort studies into the consequences of cord clamping (Hollands and McCauley, 2009) all bring the potential of new evidence, and in turn, the shifting of power between stakeholders.…”

The Causal Impact of Resistance: Mediating between Resistance and Internal Conversation about Resistance

“…Following Simmel's (Papilloud and Rol, ) distinction, this article argues that resistance can be better understood if we explore the connection between expressed forms of resistance and the causal impact of such external forms of action. By using Archer's concept of internal conversation, this article will show that the causal impact of resistance may derive from the agent's ability to produce internal conversations about resistance.…”

Toward a process and situated view of compromises

“…On one hand, it is enabling because it makes coordination and action possible. Compromise is also a resource that facilitates the development of a variety of possible worlds and the ways in which relations are constructed and maintained within these worlds (Papilloud and Rol, 2004). Nachi (2010) has argued that the process of compromise leads to a new space of possibility and is thus a territory that defines coordination and activity.…”