Louis Wirth (August 28, 1897 – May 3, 1952) was an American sociologist and member of the Chicago school of sociology. His interests included city life, minority group behavior, and mass media, and he is recognised as one of the leading urban sociologists. He was the first president of the

International Sociological Association The International Sociological Association (ISA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to scientific purposes in the field of sociology and social sciences. It is an international sociological body, gathering both individuals and national sociolo ...

(1949–1952) and the 37th president of the American Sociological Association (1947).

Life

Louis Wirth was born in the small village of Gemünden in the Hunsrück,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He was one of seven children born to Rosalie Lorig (1868–1948, from Butzweiler/ Eifel) and Joseph Wirth. Gemünden was a pastoral community, and Joseph Wirth earned a living as a cattle dealer. The family was Jewish and both of his parents were religiously active. Louis left Gemünden to live with his older sister at his uncle's home in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

in 1911. Soon after arriving in the United States, Louis met and married Mary Bolton. The couple had two daughters, Elizabeth (Marvick) and Alice (Gray).

Research

Wirth studied in the United States and became a leading figure in Chicago School Sociology. His interests included city life,

minority group The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...

behaviour and

mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit informati ...

and he is recognised as one of the leading urban sociologists. Wirth's major contribution to social theory of urban space was a classic essay ''Urbanism as a Way of Life'', published in the '' American Journal of Sociology'' in 1938. In this essay Wirth used Weber's notion of the ideal type, seeing the urban and the rural as constituting two distinct types of community at opposite ends of a continuum. His research was mostly concerned with how Jewish immigrants adjusted to life in urban America, as well as the distinct social processes of city life. Wirth was a supporter of applied sociology, and believed in taking the knowledge offered by his discipline and using it to solve real social problems. Wirth writes that

urbanism Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, which is the profession focusing on the physical design and ...

is a form of social organisation that is harmful to

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

, and describes the city as a ''"Substitution of secondary for primary contacts, the weakening of bonds of kinship, the declining social significance of the family, the disappearance of neighbourhood and the undermining of traditional basis of social solidarity"''. Wirth was concerned with the effects of the city upon family unity, and he believed

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...

leads to a "low and declining urban reproduction rates ... families are smaller and more frequently without children than in the country". According to Wirth, marriage tends to be postponed, and the proportion of single people is growing, leading to isolation and less interaction. But Wirth also stressed the positive effects of city life: "the beginning of what is distinctively modern in our

civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). ...

is best signalized by the growth of great cities"; " metropolitan civilization is without question the best civilization that human beings have ever devised"; "the city everywhere has been the center of freedom and

toleration Toleration is the allowing, permitting, or acceptance of an action, idea, object, or person which one dislikes or disagrees with. Political scientist Andrew R. Murphy explains that "We can improve our understanding by defining "toleration" as ...

, the home of

progress Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension w ...

, of invention, of science, of rationality" or: "the history of civilization can be written in terms of the history of cities". The profound social understanding of minority groups that Wirth obtained first-hand as a Jewish immigrant in America, can equally be applied to understanding the problems of other minority groups in society, such as

ethnic minorities The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...

, the

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

homosexuals Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

and the elderly, all of whom have also suffered, and/or continue to suffer

prejudice Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...

, discrimination and

disenfranchisement Disfranchisement, also called disenfranchisement, or voter disqualification is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing a person exercising the right to vote. D ...

from the more numerically dominant members of a host society. It is in this respect that Wirth's path-breaking and insightful work still amply rewards detailed study even today, some seventy years after his original investigations.Wirth, L: "The Problem of Minority Groups.", page 347 in Ralph Linton (ed.), ''The Science of Man in the World Crisis,'' New York: Columbia University Press, 1945. A good example of Wirth's work, which includes a comprehensive bibliography, is ''On Cities and Social Life'', published in 1964.

Bibliography

*(1928): The

Ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

. Chicago *(1936): Preface to „Ideology and Utopia“, by

Karl Mannheim Karl Mannheim (born Károly Manheim, 27 March 1893 – 9 January 1947) was an influential Hungarian sociologist during the first half of the 20th century. He is a key figure in classical sociology, as well as one of the founders of the sociolo ...

. In:Shils, E.;Wirth, L. (ed.), Ideology and Utopia, by Karl Mannheim, NY, p. XIII-XXXI *(1936): Types of Nationalism. In: AJS, Vol. 41, no.6, May, p. 723–737 *(1937): The Urban Mode of Life. In: New Horizons in Planning. Chicago, p. 23–30 *(1938): Urbanism As A Way of Life. in: AJS 44, p. 1–24 *(1939): Social Interaction: The Problem of the Individual and the Group. In: AJS, Vol. 44, May, p. 965–979 *(1940): Ideological Aspects of Social Disorganization. In: American Sociological Review, Vol. 5, no.4, p. 472–482 *(1940): The Urban Society and Civilization. In: Wirth, Louis (ed.), Eleven Twenty Six: A Decade of Social Science Research, p. 51–63 *(1941): Morale and Minority Groups. In: AJS, Vol. 47, no.3, November, p. 415–433 *(1941): The Present Position of Minorities in the United States. In: Studies in Political Science and Sociology. Philadelphia, p. 137–156 *(1944): Race and Public Policy. In: Scientific Monthly, Vol. 58, April, p. 302–312 *(1945): Group Tension and Mass Democracy. In: American Scholar, Vol. 14, No.2, p. 231–235 *(1945): Human Ecology. In: AJS, Vol. 50, no.6, May, p. 483–488 *(1945): The Problem of Minority Groups. In: Linton, Ralph (ed.), The Science of Man in the World Crisis, New York; p. 347–372 *(1946): A Sociologist Looks at the Community. In: Wirth, Louis; et al. (ed.), Community Planning for Peacetime Living. Stanford, Calif.: p. 3–89 *(1947): American Sociology 1915–1947. In: AJS. Index to Volumes 1–52, 1895–1947, Chicago; p. 273–281 *(1947): Ideas and Ideals as Sources of Power in Modern World. In:Bryson,L. et al. (ed.), Conflicts of Power in Modern Culture. NY, p. 499–508 *(1948): Consensus and Mass Communication. In: American Sociological Review Vol. 13, no.1, February, p. 1–15 *(1948): World Community, World Society, and World Government. In: Wright, Quincy (ed.), The World Community, Chicago; p. 9–20 *(1951): The Significance of Sociology. In: International Social Science Bulletin (UNESCO), Vol. 3, no.2, Summer, p. 197–202 *(1956): Community Life and Social Policy. Marvick, Elizabeth Wirth/Reiss, Jr. Albert J. (ed.), Chicago/London *(1964): On Cities and Social Life. Reiss, A. J. (ed.), Chicago/London *Reiss, Albert J.jr. (1964): "Introduction", Sociology as a Discipline. In: Wirth, Louis (1964)

References

External links

Guide to the Louis Wirth Papers 1918-1952
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wirth, Louis 1897 births 1952 deaths American sociologists 19th-century German Jews German sociologists Jewish sociologists Human ecologists German male writers Urban theorists Urban sociologists German emigrants to the United States Presidents of the International Sociological Association Presidents of the American Sociological Association

Life

Research

Bibliography

See also

References

Further reading

External links