Emile Durkheim's View of Society
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Emile Durkheim followed Auguste Comte in viewing society as a reality in its own right and in identifying patterns to the experiences of individuals which exist independently (Hess, Markson, & Stein, 1989). Durkheim theorized that segmentary societies are held together by mechanical solidarity in which repressive laws are created, tolerated, and essentially derived from necessity (Durkheim, 1964). The totality of beliefs and sentiments common to average citizens of the same society forms a determinant system which has its own life and can be, according to Durkheim (1964), a collective or common conscience. It is this common conscious, maintained by punishment and by strictures against proscribed behaviors in both the public and the private sectors, which creates mechanical solidarity. Mechanical solidarity is achieved via repressive law which integrates society to a degree which is dependent upon the greater or lesser extent of the social life which the common conscience embraces or regulates (Durkheim, 1964). The process can be transformed into modern as opposed to segmentary societies that are held together by organic solidarity. In essence, Durkheim (1964) departs from Marx by arguing that organic solidarity in modern society is due in large measure to the division of labor. He states that "while repressive law tends to remain diffuse within society, restitutive law creates organs which are more and more specialized" (Durkheim, 1964, p. 113). Organic solidarity m
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ticularly in comparison to situations in which men are totally controlled by society. When labor is divided, society becomes more capable of collective movement at the same time that each of its elements have more freedom of movement. This kind of solidarity is "organic" in that among the higher animals, each independent organ has a special autonomy and physiognomy. The unity of the organism is said by Durkheim (1964) to be as great as the individuation of the parts is more marked.
Durkheim (1964) did not ignore the potential for conflict as mechanical solidarity gives way to organic solidarity. Resistance to specialization, complaints regarding superficially or actually unjust distributions of wealth and reward for effort, animosities between groups which do not possess desired levels or amounts of property -- these are all conflicts which can be identified in a society that has achieved or is achieving organic solidarity. However, it is in mechanical solidarity that the greatest potential for conflict exists. Durkheim (1964) contends that in mechanical solidarity, only unilateral relationships between owners or a despot and workers or subjects can exist. The individual is linked not to the group, but to the image of t
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Approximate Word count = 1287
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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