Secrecy, Simmel and the New Sociology of Wealth

Abstract

What relevance does an early twentieth century thinker like Simmel have for the contemporary sociology of wealth? This paper suggests that Simmel’s classic work on the secret and secret societies is embedded but largely unacknowledged in twenty-first century wealth research. Thus, the purpose of this discussion is to make these contributions more visible and sketch their implications for new directions in the field.