Division of Labour

The term “division of labour” refers to dividing work into a series of tasks assigned to different people or groups. It is also defined as “a concept referring to the internal organisation of a society or social group.” 

It is useful because dividing work into sections reduces unnecessary movements and tool usage. However, contrary to popular belief, the division of labour does not result in a loss of skills among the working masses.

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How does the Division of Labour Benefit Society?

Durkheim states his opinion on how the division of labour — creating specific jobs for specific people — benefits society by increasing a process’s reproductive capacity and the workers’ skill sets.It also fosters a sense of community among those who share those jobs. Durkheim argues that the division of labour serves social and economic purposes. “The division of labour can take place only among members of a pre-existing society,” he claims. Durkheim believed that the division of labour is proportional to a society’s moral or dynamic density. He describes it as a combination of a group’s or society’s population density and level of socialisation.

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The Dynamic Density

There are three ways through which the dynamic density can occur: 

• As a result of an increase in the number of people living close together 
• Because of the development of towns
• by increasing the number and effectiveness of communication channels

According to Durkheim, when one or more of these events occur, there is a division of labour and an abundance of more specialised jobs. While tasks become more complex, pursuing a purposeful life becomes more challenging.A big part of Durkheim’s law talks about how people in different cultures see social solidarity. People in developing countries don’t see it the same way. Another thing to look at is how every type of society describes the role of law in fixing problems with social solidarity.

Societal Bond/Solidarity

Durkheim states there are two types of social solidarity: organic and mechanical.

• Mechanical solidarity means that there is no mediator between the individual and society. That means that society functions as a group. Everyone in the group does the same things and shares their central beliefs
• Durkheim calls this “collective consciousness,” or “conscience collective,” which means a shared set of beliefs. It is what connects each person to society

On the contrary, when it comes to organic solidarity, society is more complicated. 

• It is a system with diverse functions linked together by specific relationships
• The job or task that each person does and the ways they act are unique to the

Durkheim looked at people as “men”; according to him, individuality grows as parts of society become more complicated. It makes it easier for everyone in society to move in sync, but at the same time, each part of the society has more unique moves. Durkheim believed that societies were more like a group of people who work together and behave consistently to achieve the same objective. They are more likely to look like each other. They have the same beliefs and morals as people who live in a very advanced technology and society driven by information.As societies become more civilised and advanced, the people who live in them become more different from each other. People can be managers, philosophers, labourers, farmers, etc. Solidarity becomes more natural as societies divide up their work. 

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The law must play an important role to keep social solidarity

• If you look at Durkheim’s ideas, the laws of a society are the best way to show that people work together and that the organisation of social life is in the most exact and stable manner
• There are two kinds of law in human societies: repressive law (moral) and restitutive law (social)
• Each type of law corresponds to a kind of social solidarity (organic)

Repressive Law

A repressive law is a legal system where anyone who breaks the law faces severe punishment. People in mechanical societies have a strong collective conscience or set of social values upon which to build their laws. That is why such a law is prevalent within mechanical solidarity. 

Restitutive Law

Restitutive laws demand a criminal compensate for the harm he caused to others due to his actions. Restitutive Law concentrates on the victim when there is a crime because there are no commonly held opinions about what causes harm to society.  

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Criticism of the Theory

Durkheim’s main goal was to look at social changes that industrialisation causes. He wanted to better comprehend the problems in an industrialised society. However, according to British legal thinker Michael Clarke, Durkheim failed when he tried to group a lot of different societies into two broad groups: industrialised and non-industrialised. Durkheim didn’t see or think about the wide range of non-industrialised societies. Instead, he thought of industrialisation as the historical drainage that separated goats from sheep in the past. Eliot Freidson, an American scholar, said that when people talk about industrialisation, they usually think about labour in terms of the material world of technology and making things. Freidson says that an administrative authority that doesn’t think about how the people interact makes these divisions.

American sociologist Robert Merton said that Durkheim, as a positivist, used the methods and criteria of the physical sciences to look at the social laws formed during industrialisation. Physical sciences, based on nature, can’t explain the new laws that have come about because of technology. Jennifer Lehman, an American sociologist, says that the Division of Labor also has a gender problem, which is not good. She says that Durkheim’s book is full of sexist contradictions. Lehman remarks that the writer thinks of “individuals” as “men” but thinks of women as separate and nonsocial people. It was a mistake for the philosopher to use this framework. He didn’t realise how important women were in industrial and pre-industrial societies.

Conclusion

We have learned about Durkheim’s “Division of Labour” theory. Here is a summary of the learning:

• The term “division of labour” refers to the division of work into a series of tasks assigned to different people or groups. It is a useful principle because it reduces unnecessary movements and tool usage
• According to Durkheim, it also fosters a sense of community among those who share those jobs. Social solidarity means that society is a group where everyone does the same things and has the same beliefs. Durkheim stated that as parts of society become more complicated, individuality grows
• Durkheim’s main goal was to look at social changes caused by industrialisation. He didn’t consider the range of non-industrialised societies. Likewise, Durkheim didn’t emphasise the role of women in industrial and pre-industrial societies