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How can I join homogeneous parts of a sentence that determine each other? Can I use commas or should I also use some linking words such as that is?

Example:

By “circumstances” I mean not just the world around, but the society, (that is) the mob able to make anyone behave in any way, the mob that influences on our decisions, actions and individuality.

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  • You can use either, but the result is a pig of a sentence to read. You will be better off splitting your example (for example) into 2 sentences
    – ElendilTheTall
    Commented Jun 24, 2014 at 11:17
  • I'm having difficulty approaching this example. Try jamming some semicolons in there.
    – Dave Magner
    Commented Jun 24, 2014 at 17:51

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The colon is ideally suited to joining an elaborative clause in a sentence already riddled with commas. As a copy editor I would write:

By “circumstances” I mean not just the world around, but the society: the mob able to make anyone behave in any way, the mob that influences on our decisions, actions and individuality.

(I would also replace the penultimate comma with a semi-colon.)

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