Urban Patterns of Social Interaction: Models of Lima and Mexico City versus Georg Simmel’s Ideal Type

Abstract

Based on the case of Berlin at the end of the 19th century, the German sociologist Georg Simmel argues that individual’s overexposure to influences from modern urban environment, in addition to depersonalization and rationalization of life under monetary economy, operate to produce a type of subject characterized by an individualistic, indifferent and reserved attitude that enhance intellectual traits. This conceptual model has been used in Latin American urban studies, where, however, the predominant social types are very different. This paper presents ethnographic observations and materials from various sources about some cultural patterns of social interaction in Lima and Mexico City, with a focus on conceptions of time and the everyday ways in which people manage agreements. Thus, it is shown that, in these cities, the predominant social type is one that values reciprocity, kindness and warmth in social relations, and that in various fields acts guided by affections, senses and traditional ideals, contrasting in these and other aspects with that archetype that Simmel formulated to characterize urban people from an industrial society. On this basis, it is discussed how the decontextualized, uncritical and normative use of theoretical schemes can contribute to the reproduction of prejudices and stereotypes about Latin Americans.