Equity and the uses of secrecy

Alessandro Cavalli

pp. 237-248

in: Cécile Rol, Christian Papilloud (eds), Soziologie als Möglichkeit, Wiesbaden, Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2009

Abstract

As with almost all of Simmel's works, his essay on secrecy and secret societies is like an inexhaustible mine — each expedition produces a cart full of precious findings and new ideas for research.¹ Scholars interpreting this essay have focused mainly on aspects of interaction involving silence and concealment in interpersonal communication.² Reading that essay over and over again, however, induced me to explore other fields where the concept of secrecy could be applied, a concept that has attracted scant attention from social scientists.³