The Stranger

This book explores the concept of the stranger as a modern social form, identifying the differing conceptions of strangerhood presented in the literature since the publication of Georg Simmels influential essay The Stranger, questioning the assumptions around what it means to be regarded as strange, and identifying the consequences of being labelled a stranger.

Organised both chronologically and thematically, the book begins with Simmels major essays on the stranger and culminates with an analysis of Zygmunt Baumans thought on the subject, with each chapter introducing an idea or key theme initially discussed by Simmel before exploring the development of the theme in the work of others, including Schütz, Derrida, and Levinas. The stranger is an enduring concept across many disciplines and is central to contemporary debates about refugees, asylum, the nature of inclusion and exclusion, and the struggle for recognition. As such, this book will be of interest to scholars across the social sciences.