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David Emile Durkheim is a French sociologist. He is considered one of the chief architects of the discipline of sociology as part of modern social science. Emile Durkheim has put forward theories about how modern society can function (together) as one unit cohesively and also how society can retain its integrity.Â
His theories and analyses have laid the foundation of modern society as we know it today. Some of his popular works include ‘The Division of Labour in Society –1893,’ ‘The Rules of Sociological Method,’ and ‘The Elementary Forms of Religious Life –1912.’ His works greatly influenced the intellect of Frenchmen till 1917, when he passed away.
As far as the Emile Durkheim theory is concerned, he wished to set and achieve 3 social goals.
He wanted sociology to be officially recognised in the modern world as a social science.
He wanted to study how a society could maintain oneness and function as a single unit, despite having people from different ethnic backgrounds, cultures and religions as part of it.
Lastly, Emile Durkheim was very interested in the role that scientific thought and knowledge would play in modern society. He wanted to study the effect of exploring scientific knowledge.
Emile Durkheim Theory
As part of his work in making people recognise sociology as modern social science, he authored some works and wrote articles, the theories of which are relevant today too. The Emile Durkheim theory had many works and texts explaining modern social phenomena and important elements influencing society. A few of them are explained as below:
The Division of Labour in Society
This is his first major work; it attempts to explain the basis of social cohesiveness; what are the factors that make society function as one single unit. This work presents many of Emile Durkheim’s theories and sheds greater light on his methodology of explaining modern sociology. Some of the important points of this work are:
Emile Durkheim argues that social togetherness is of two types chiefly – the first is how society stands and works together as one unit. The second is what binds an individual to his society. According to him, the division of labour creates organic solidarity in modern society. This is a tangible sense in an individual of being one with the society, relating to it and following its principles
He also poses some contradictions in this text. According to Giddens, Durkheim comes across a problem in that ‘he sees a moral ambiguity (confusion or lack of clarity) in the relationship of the individual with modern society.’ This is because, with the distinct division of labour, individuals in a society develop their own consciousness. At the same time, however, the individual’s morality asks that they provide unquestioned service to their society. Both of these things create a kind of lack of clarity as above
With regard to this, he also expressed concern, in that he felt that division of labour might end splitting people up into groups; organic solidarity then might not be sufficient in bringing them together
Lastly, Emile Durkheim’s theory on morality is seen more in a social context than in a philosophical sense
The Rule of Sociological Method
His second work based on modern sociology is ‘The Rule of Sociological Method,’ written in 1895. Through this work, he expressed some wishes and advocated the following:
He wanted to implement a way that would guarantee the belief of modern society in science and its principles. He wanted scientific thought to truly become a way of life. He was a pioneer in creating an approach to studying social phenomena (everyday happenings and occurrences in modern society) that were absolutely rooted in science and scientific thought, without a doubt
Through this, he also questioned the objectivity of the sociologist. According to Emile Durkheim, social observation must be as impartial and impersonal as is possible, though it can never be 100%. According to him, sociology should allow for the comparison of different social facts as opposed to studying each social fact as independent of the other
He agreed with Herbert Spencer, a fellow sociologist, that a society could be compared to a living organism. This theory of Emile Durkheim prepared the foundation of modern functionalism in society since you cannot study or analyse a society’s functionalism without first considering it to be one unit or one organism
His focus of analysis was more on social facts rather than on the motivations behind the actions of an individual
Emile Durkheim’s Social Facts
Apart from the division of labour and organic solidarity, Emile Durkheim’s Social Facts also put forth some other concepts. These are:
- Collective Consciousness: Each citizen in a common society has the same thought system, beliefs and sentiments. These form the base of the collective or common conscience. Sometimes, individuals commit acts that go against these beliefs and sentiments, which are disapproved of by society, making them acts of crime.
- Mechanical Solidarity: This term explains the kind of oneness and support towards social institutions that an individual feels and expresses automatically, being part of the same society. For example, when an individual agrees that a certain crime should be punished, he ends up expressing solidarity towards the society that is mechanical.
- Social Structure: According to Emile Durkheim, social structure is not the sum total of similar individuals with the same attitudes and outlooks towards life and society. Instead, social structure is made up of different organs – made of different parts but making just one whole, an entire structure which is society. These small entities are secondary to and just individual parts of one central whole – society. These small entities don’t exist parallel to each other, but they are interconnected and work in coordination to function as one cohesive unit.
- Role of State and Occupational Groups: He postulates that the state has a very important role in the functioning of society. By fulfilling key functions required of it like serving justice, maintaining individual health, ensuring education to all, the state would ensure that the moral fabric of society remained strong and that principles of morality were present and being practised by individuals.
Conclusion
Emile Durkheim’s theories and Emile Durkheim’s social facts have prepared the base for studying modern sociology as we know it today. Apart from the above, he gave many lectures and published some other works and texts too. These were related to morality, sociology of knowledge, religion, law and deviance. The last of which is the reason behind the occurrence of crime, according to Emile Durkheim. His influence on modern sociology is irreplaceable.
