Chapter 6 :Emile Durkheim

1858-1917

a Biographical sketch

Born in France on April 15, 1857

Son of a rabbi( )
Was a Catholic for a short period of time
Became an agnostic( )
in 1893The Division of Labor in Society was
published;
in 1895 The Rules of Sociological Method was
published;
in 1897 Suicide: A Study in Sociology was published.
in 1898 , he founded the journal L'annee
scoiologique;
In 1902 he was summoned to the famous French
university the Sorbonne,
in 1906 he was named professor of the science of
education, a title that was changed in 1913 to
professor of the science of education and sociology.
in 1912, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, was
published.
Durkheim died on November 15,1917

III. The Division of Labor in Society

In The Division of Labor, Durkheim

identifies two forms or types of
solidarity, which are based on different
sources. Mechanical solidarity is
solidarity which comes from likeness
and is at its maximum when the
collective conscience completely
envelops our whole conscience and
coincides in all points with it.

1. Mechanical solidarity
Mechanical solidarity occurs in early
societies in which there is not much
division of labor. Such societies are
relatively homogenous, men and women
engage in similar tasks and daily activities,
people have similar experiences. In such
societies the few distinct institutions
express similar values and norms and tend
to reinforce one another.

The norms, values, and beliefs of the

society (or the collective conscience)
are so homogenous and confront the
individual with such overwhelming
and consistent force, that there is
little opportunity in such societies for
individuality or deviance from this
collective conscience.

According to Durkheim, traditional

cultures experience a high level of
social and moral integration, there
was little individuation, and most
behaviors were governed by social
norms which were usually embodied
in religion.

 By engaging in the same activities

and rituals, people in traditional
societies shared common moral
values, which Durkheim called a
collective conscience. In these
societies, people tend to regard
themselves as members of a group;
the collective conscience embraces
individual awareness, and there is
little sense of personal options

2. Organic solidarity
Organic solidarity develops as a byproduct of the division of labor. As
society becomes more complex,
individuals play more specialized
roles and become ever more
dissimilar in their social experiences,
material interests, values, and
beliefs

Individuals in such a sociocultural system

have less in common; however, they
must become more dependent upon
each other for their survival
The growth of individualism is an
inevitable result of the increasing
division of labor, and this individualism
can only develop at the expense of the
common values, morality, beliefs, and
normative rules of societythe
sentiments and beliefs that are held by
all.

With the loosening of these common rules

and values we also lose our sense of
community, or identity with the group. The
social bond is thereby weakened and social
values and beliefs no longer provide us with
coherent or insistent moral guidance.
And this loosening lends itself to anomie.
Again, according to Durkheim, if an
individual lacks any sense of social restraint
her self-interest will be unleashed, she will
seek to satisfy her own appetites with little
thought on the possible effect her action
will have on others.

 Instead of asking is this moral? or

does my family approve? the
individual is more likely to ask does
this action meet my needs? The
individual is left to find her own way
in the worlda world in which
personal options for behavior have
multiplied as strong and insistent
norms and moral guidelines have
weakened.

Anomie (Definition)
When social regulations break down, the controlling
influence of society on individual propensities is no
longer effective and individuals are left to their own
devices. Such a state of affairs Durkheim calls
anomie,
anomie a term that refers to a condition of relative
normlessness in a whole society or in some of its
component groups. Anomie does not refer to a state
of mind, but to a property of the social structure. It
characterizes a condition in which individuals
desires are no longer regulated by common norms
and where, as a consequence, individuals are left
without moral guidance in the pursuit of their goals.

Anomic Division of Labor

Represents insufficient normative

regulation of individuals activities, with the
result that individuals do not feel attached
to the collectivity.
Anomie is inevitable when the
transformation of societies from mechanical
to an organic basis of social solidarity is
rapid and causes the generalization, or
enfeeblement, of values. With
generalization, individuals attachment to,
and regulation by, values is lessened.

 The results of this anomic situation

are diverse.
One result is that individuals feel
alienated, because their only
attachment is to the monotony and
crushing schedule dictated by the
machines of the industrial age
Another is the escalated frustrations and
the sense of deprivation, manifested by
increased incident of revolt, that come
in a state of underregulation.

 Unlike Marx, however, Durkheim did

not consider these consequences
inevitable. He rejected the notion
that there were inherent
contradictions in capitalism, for if, in
certain cases, organic solidarity is
not all it should be . . . [it is] because
all the conditions for the existence of
organic solidarity have not been
realized

Social Solidarity or Social Integration

Again . . . .
The question of social solidarity, or integration,
turns on several related issues:
How are individuals made to feel part of a larger
social collective?
How are their desires and wants constrained in
ways that allow them to participate in the
collective?
How are the activities of individuals and other
social units coordinated and adjusted to one
another?