David Emile Durkheim, one of the founding fathers of sociology, was born in France on April 15, 1858, and died on November 15, 1917. Mostly he was a teacher of sociology at the University of Bordeaux and Paris Durkheim came from a Jewish background, and was a superior student at school and University. Eventually he was able to attend the elite Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. He taught for a number of years, and then received an appointment to a position in philosophy at the University of Bordeaux in 1887. There he taught the subject of moral education and later taught the first course in sociology at a French university. In 1902 he was appointed to a professorship at the Sorbonne, in Paris, where he remained until he died. Durkheim’s most famous works are The Division of Labor in Society (1893), The Rules of Sociological Method (1895), Suicide (1897) and The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912). A conservative within the field of sociology, being concerned primarily with order, consensus, solidarity, social morality, and systems of religion. His theoretical analysis helped provide a basis for relatively conservative structural functional models of society. Emile Durkheim’s Contributions to Sociology His major contribution was his study about what binds society (us) together, how social solidarity (unity) and order were maintained. As a functionalist, he argued that society is a system made up of different inter-related and inter-dependent parts, and these parts function to keep the system alive or stable. He added that it is the collective conscience (shared experiences, values, beliefs, and behaviors) that allow people to feel that they are a part of a group (society) and so they work together to maintain group solidarity. Durkheim argued that for a society to function well, the value consensus (having shared norms and values) among its members is necessary. He also stated that this value consensus or agreement can be achieved through socialization education. Durkheim’s contribution to the field of sociology includes the establishment of the following theories and concepts: • Functionalism theory- emphasizes that society is always in an equilibrium state also called ‘societal equilibrium’. If something happens to break down the order and the stability of the social system, society must adjust to achieve a stable state. According to Emile Durkheim, society should be analyzed and described in terms of functions. Society is a system of interrelated parts where no one part can function without the other. The function of the parts is the function of society as a whole. If anyone part changes i.e. do not function then, it has an impact on society. • Concept of the division of labor- Durkheim’s concept of the division of labor focused on the shift in societies from a simple society to one that is more complex. He argued that traditional societies were made up of homogenous people that were more or less the same in terms of values, religious beliefs, and backgrounds. Modern societies, in contrast, are made up of a complex division of labor, beliefs, and backgrounds. • Concept of Social solidarity- Emile Durkheim argued that there are two different kinds of solidarity (unity) among people in a society that holds them together. These two types of solidarity are: Mechanical and Organic Solidarity. Mechanical Solidarity: The first type of solidarity was present in more traditional (agricultural) societies. In these societies, all of the people were of the same religion, the same culture, and did the same tasks. They are all similar to one another and that similarity held them together as a society. This solidarity would have led the society to share a collective conscience (everyone having similar values, goals, norms, ideas, and beliefs).Durkheim called this ‘mechanical solidarity’ because the community functioned together as a simple machine. Organic Solidarity: This occurs in the modern industrial type of society. In this type of society, there is a division of labor where people are engaged in specialized tasks and so their interests, values are different. Durkheim believed that being different would not mean an end to group solidarity, rather as people became more specialized and different, they became more dependent on each other. The farmer is dependent on blacksmiths for agricultural tools, a tailor for clothing, cobblers for shoes, etc. • The term, Social facts- Emile Durkheim defined Sociology as ‘the scientific study of social facts or phenomena.’ He was the first to define the term ‘social fact’. Social facts are things such as institutions, norms, and values which exist external to the individual and influence the individual. E.g. social facts such as institutions, status, roles, values, norms, culture, laws, beliefs, population, distribution, urbanization, etc. determine ways of acting, thinking, and feeling of people in a society. • Collective conscience and value consensus- A Collective Conscience is a shared moral code and values that shape individual consciousness. Societies need this collective conscience (shared values) to function successfully. Emile Durkheim believed that value consensus (all members of society have shared goals, norms, values, and roles) forms the basic integrating principle in society. It means that if all members of society have shared values then they have similar identities, cooperation, and avoids conflict and hence society becomes stable. • Concept of Anomie- the concept of `anomie’ developed by Emile Durkheim refers to the state of normlessness (loss of value consensus) resulting from the lack of society’s influence or moral guidance on an individual’s passion and emotions. So, anomie does not refer to a state of mind, but a property of the social structure. • Theory of suicide- suicide is generally considered to be one of the most private and personal acts. But interestingly, the `theory of suicide’ explains that suicide is neither an individual nor a personal act. It is a social fact. In summary, Durkheim argued that there were various means by which individual and society could be connected. Among these are education, social programs through the state, occuptional groups, and laws. Together these could assist in regulating individuals and integrating individuals with society.
