THE DOMICILE - PRIVATE SPHERE AND PUBLIC SPHERE

The means of access to the domicile define contrasted forms of sociability, articulated by the private and the public spheres. Six cases can be singled out empirically, corresponding to more or less evolutive types of domiciles. They involve the practice of a norm of reciprocity in exchanges, the utilization of a Principle of selectivity in relationships, and the limits of involvement in the public sphere. Over and above the diversity of the forms and their mutations, the interplay of certain invariants in social life restricts the range of possibilities.