Wenn Fremde Fremden begegnen: zur Darstellung von Indifferenz im modernen Alltag

When strangers encounter strangers On presentation of indifference in modern everyday life In classic sociology, the concept of the ́stranger ́ describes in a rather limited way the marginal man who provokes encounters prone to crises. From such a perspective those strangers disappear from sight, who to a large extent are present in modern everyday life as „insignificant others”, or rather, who finally become „insignificant others” through reciprocal rituals of distancing and indifference. Starting from a perspective of differentiation theory, this article tries to explain the structural conditions as well as the expressions of this normal type of ́being alien ́ ́ in everyday practice. By means of rather inconspicuous „rituals of dis-counter” in so-called „non-places”, practices of being alien and a stranger are regarded as a typical modern modus of socialisation that focuses on the body as a order-preserving element of the material culture of communication. The consequence is not merely a new branch of research with regard to strangers. Additionally, the re110 Soziale Probleme, 13. Jg., 2002 sources of specific avoidance behaviour in urban space are discussed in relation to processes of globalisation.