Abstract

Although it is central to the social sciences, the notion of the collective has been elaborated primarily in fields of study which are concerned with deviant behavior, and then only in the sense of »collective behavior.« In order to consider the emergence of collectivity, the present paper suggests a re-reading of this sociology (especially of Herbert Blumer). By means of a reading of Walt Whitman, who was important as a lyrical and journalistic source of inspiration to early American sociology, a concept of material and medial infrastructures (particularly transport media such as the ferry) is obtained, which is also significant for the current theoretical interweaving of collectivity and infrastructure.