Emile Durkheim, founder of the French school of sociology

The laws of the development of society and its causes must be sought within society itself.

There were many followers, and consequently a school arose.

The period of institutionalisation!

Works:

1. “The Division of Labour in Society” (1893)
2. “The Rules of Sociological Method” (1895)
3. “Suicide” (1897)
4. “The Elementary Forms of Religious Life” (1912)

Main categories:

1. Social fact
2. Solidarity
3. Collective consciousness
4. Social anomie
5. Suicide
6. Method of sociology: study the social by means of the social

Main task: to show the role of the division of labour in society

Conclusion: the division of labour in society performs the moral function of uniting society and contributes to its solidarity.

Methodology: sociological reductionism – reveals the causes of a causal relationship, proceeding from the nature of society. Method: study the social by means of the social. Subject: the social fact. Object: social reality. Society possesses laws that flow from its nature.

“The division of labour – is for uniting, for creating the integrity of society, its solidarity”, (it was Comte who first regarded the division of labour as the basis for the life of society, while at the same time perceiving the danger of its disintegration).

2 methods of proof:

1. Explain the complex by means of the simplest, i.e. “use elementary forms as a model for studying developed forms”.

He used the example of the family. On the basis of the sexual division of labour the family arose (economic, political and military activity – this is the occupation of men; the woman – is the keeper of the hearth, the continuer of the line). Man and woman, by their qualities, stand at opposite poles that attract each other. Man – is manly, strong, rational, intelligent. Woman – is weak, feminine, irrational, with a developed spatial imagination.

The opposition of the sexes – is the basis for the creation of the family. Man and woman passionately seek one another, striving to create something whole, which is called the family. The family – is something more than the sum of 2 people in love, which can be designated as an integrity.

“When people live together and constantly maintain relations with one another, they sense the whole that they form through their union, become attached to that whole, care about its preservation, and take it into account in their behaviour. The “I” of each member of the family is subordinated to the common “we”. So it is in society too: the division of labour – is a new, more perfect factor of uniting society, of creating its integrity”.

2. The method of distinguishing 2 types of solidarity. Alongside 2 types of social organisation of society, Durkheim distinguished 2 types of solidarity:

1. Archaic, traditional. It is characterised by mechanical solidarity. “Mechanical solidarity is characteristic of society at an early stage of development and is based on the resemblance of the members of the group or society. There is no division of labour. There is no specialisation of labour; everyone does the same work. The individual is not distinguished by individual qualities. Everyone resembles everyone else”. “Solidarity rests on common beliefs, customs and strict control over their observance. Everyone, without reasoning, recognises and professes one and the same religion. Religion regulates a single way of life, thought and behaviour for everyone, down to the details of private life. Individual consciousness is entirely subordinated to the collective. The individual is forbidden to have his own thoughts, movements, actions. He turns into a collective being”. In such a society one observes one-sided thinking (unanimity), uniformity of beliefs and customs, a collective consciousness. As a result the individual turns into a collective being; “only in this case can the social molecules move in concert, like the molecules of inorganic bodies; a mechanical bond is established between the individual and society. The individual does not belong to himself; he is, literally, a thing at the disposal of society”.
2. “Organic solidarity arose in mature society on the basis of the division of labour and the differences and oppositions that flow from it. Each person has his own sphere of activity in accordance with his abilities, hence – each is a personality, unlike any other. The more divided labour is, the more specialised, the more indispensable each person becomes and the more dependent – on others, on society. The unifying force becomes the system of various sociological functions based on the division of labour and joined together by various relations. Society develops better the more each person produces his own movements, the greater the specialisation of labour. Since the various parts of the aggregate (society) perform various functions, they cannot easily be separated and replaced. This solidarity resembles the organism of a higher animal: each organ possesses its own autonomy, its own function. The unity of the organism is the greater, the more distinct this individualisation of the parts. By analogy with an organism, Durkheim calls this type of solidarity among people, based on the division of labour, organic solidarity.

COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS.

“This is the totality of beliefs and sentiments common on average to the members of one and the same society; it forms a definite system that has a life of its own; it can be called the collective consciousness”.

Specific features of the collective consciousness as a reality:

1. It is not concentrated in any single organ, but is dispersed throughout the whole space of society.

2. The collective consciousness is objectively independent of the particular conditions of people’s lives (geographical environment (north, south), social organisation (town, village), occupation (professions)): these conditions change. They pass, but the collective consciousness remains.

3. The collective consciousness does not depend on, and does not change with, each generation; on the contrary, it serves as the source of the connection between successive generations.

The collective consciousness – is the psychological type of a society, its mentality. It has its own way of developing, its own properties, its own conditions of existence.

The social fact can be of two kinds:

1. Of a material character (society itself; its social structures (the state, religion, law); the morphological components of society (the character of the territory, of property, the volume and density of population, its housing conditions, the means of communication).
2. Immaterial facts of a spiritual character (morality, values, norms, collective consciousness, collective representations and beliefs).

Subject: material and immaterial social facts. The immaterial facts chiefly interested the scholar, since they made it sociologically possible to interpret proper, acceptable behaviour and deviant behaviour.

Progress: source – the division of labour, criterion – the degree of solidarity in society.

The concept and typology of society:

Society – is the object of social cognition.

Durkheim was the first to focus attention on a quality of society – its integrity.

Society – is not a simple sum of individuals (Spencer), but a system formed by their associations and representing a reality endowed with its own special properties, the most important of which is integrity.

The relationship between society and the individual: society, as social reality, is primary, while the individual, as individual reality, is secondary. The consciousness and behaviour of the individual are determined by society. Society is analogous to the family. Society – is a special reality that first arises as a result of the interaction of people, but then, having arisen, begins to live according to its own laws.

The structure of society: consists of 2 elements:

1. – Material and spiritual values (rights, customs, art), which are not a driving force of history, but only influence the themes and direction of social evolution.
2. – People, as a collective force – the human environment; it is here that one should seek the causality of social evolution (the demographic factor). For example: the growth and density of the population determines social evolution. The division of labour arose owing to the demographic explosion.

Typology of society:

1. Simple society with mechanical solidarity
2. Complex society with organic solidarity.

1st criterion – the type of society and its structure

1. This type of society is based on the resemblance of individuals. Structure: clan-based, special social ties, low population density.

2. This type of society is based on the division of labour. Structure: regulated by the internal market and urbanisation, high social interdependence, social mobility and high population density.

2nd criterion – types of law.

1. Repressive law, i.e. conditional law. Essence – punishment.

2. Civil law. Essence – restoring justice.

3rd criterion – collective consciousness

1. C.c. absorbs the individual, has a large volume.

2. C.c. has a small volume, leaves room for individual initiative.

4th criterion – the supreme value

1. Society itself

2. The individual

5th criterion – regulation of behaviour in society

1. Belief and collective feeling, religion, traditions

2. Division of functions, mutual exchange, mutual complementarity

In complex society, collective or mechanical solidarity does not disappear entirely, but acquires secondary characteristics.

The subject of social analysis: for Durkheim – this is the study of social facts. Social facts – are elements of social reality (social institutions, spiritual-social facts, the collective consciousness of norms, judgements). A social fact – is a way of thinking, acting and feeling, external to the individual and endowed with coercive power, i.e. a social fact possesses 2 characteristics:

• A social fact exists outside the individual and his consciousness, i.e. it has an existence external in relation to the individual.
• A social fact possesses coercive power in relation to the individual. It is coercive only in the case of deviation from the norm. Upbringing accustoms a child to eat, drink and sleep.

The method of sociology.

Durkheim’s achievement consists in the fact that he was the first to develop a sociological method of research.

The essence of the method: to explain the social by means of the social. This means that the causes of a given phenomenon of society should be sought outside society (single-factor schools).

Requirements of the social method:

1. The analysis of a social phenomenon must be carried out on a scientific basis, just as is done in physics, biology and chemistry, i.e. positively.

Analysis reveals causes, and here it is most important to seek social causes, i.e. within society. The selection of facts (as against arbitrariness and chaos).

2. It studies the consequences of this social phenomenon.

3. It identifies the functions of the social phenomenon, i.e. what social need it affects

2 methods of social analysis:

• Causal
• Functional.

Durkheim was the first to establish specifically sociological methods of research:

• Definition and observation of social facts
• Distinguishing between pathological and social facts
• Description and explanation of facts
• Construction of social types

Durkheim was the first to introduce mathematical methods into sociology:

• Correlational
• Statistical

Qualities of an honest sociologist:

1. intellectual scholarly honesty
2. impartiality, a critical attitude towards any ideology
3. freedom from prejudice

“Suicide”.

He was the first to analyse the social nature of suicide. He set himself the task of identifying whether there are factors within society itself that influence suicide.

Social factors:

1. Religiosity
2. Marital status
3. Sex
4. Age
5. Occupation
6. Place of residence

He gave a typology of suicides:

1. Egoistic
2. Altruistic
3. Anomic
4. Fatalistic

The basis for the classification – is the degree of connection or solidarity of the individual with society. The varying strength of the influence of social norms on the individual.

1st: arises when the ties of the individual with society are broken, and the individual is left alone with himself. Purpose and meaning of life are lost.

2nd: occurs where the individual is entirely absorbed by society or the group. And the individual gives his life for the group.

3rd: anomie (“nomos” - law) – the absence of law. It is conditioned by a state of society in which, as a result of changes in society, social norms cease to operate while new ones have not yet formed. A loss of social bearings occurs.

4th: arises under growing social pressure and the hopelessness of one’s existence.

The Elementary Forms of Religious Life:

Why does man need religion? Durkheim studied the aborigines of Australia, the essence and functional significance of religion

Conclusion: the most valuable thing in religion – is the presence of a social mechanism of solidarity that unites people.

The main function of solidarity – the consolidation of society, unification, solidarity.