Simmel's work has long been recognized as a major contribution to sociological theory and it has received increasing attention in recent years; yet by comparison with other classical contributions the significance of his work continues to be underestimated. For example, in several recent reinterpretations of classical theory Simmel is barely mentioned at all (Alexander 1981—4; Habermas 1981). Much earlier, Parsons had left Simmel out of The Structure of Social Action after having drafted a chapter on his work, and this decision surely con-tributed to the relative neglect of Simmel. Among the substantive reasons for this neglect are the level of abstraction of much of Simmel's writings and the persistent perception of him as an insightful essayist.