Tönnies' Community and Society

Ferdinand Tönnies' concepts of Community (Gemeinschaft) and Society (Gesellschaft) describe two types of social relationships. Community refers to close, personal bonds rooted in shared traditions, values, and face-to-face interactions—like family or local communities. Society, on the other hand, involves more impersonal, transactional relationships driven by individual self-interest and formal institutions, typical of modern urban life and business interactions. Tönnies used these concepts to explain how social cohesion shifts from personal connections to contractual, impersonal associations as societies modernize.