Durkheim2_DOL.ppt

DIVISION OF LABOR
Emile Durkheim

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Introduction to

The Rules of Sociological Method
Three essential points:
sociology is a distinct field of study.
Think about how this is new and novel. No one had really studies society through a scientific way before. There was philosophy and history and political science, but not sociology (which is what? Look it up if you do not remember from Intro)
(2) although the social sciences are distinct from the natural sciences, the methods of the latter can be applied to the former.
This means that we can use theories and hypothesis and set out to prove these with facts that we gather (statistics, observation, etc)
(3) the social field is also distinct from the psychological realm
Sociologists are interested in how society works as a whole and how people are influenced and influence society..

There are two different ways that social facts can be identified:

(1) social facts are “general throughout the extent of a given society” at a given stage in the evolution of that society (ibid.:xv,13)
(2) albeit related, a social fact is marked by “any manner of action . . . capable of exercising over the individual exterior constraint” (ibid.)
Another way to think about social facts is the norms, values and structures of society

Introduction to

The Rules of Sociological Method

Durkheim argues that crime is inevitable or “normal” in all societies because crime defines the moral boundaries of a society and, in doing so, communicates to its inhabitants the range of acceptable behaviors.
Let’s break this down– what happens when people commit crime? They are sanctioned– so everyone knows that what the perpetrator did goes against the values and norms of a society. This serves to reinforce (among the rest of the population) these norms and values.

Durkheim maintains, “A society exempt from [crime] is utterly impossible” because crime affirms and reaffirms the collective sentiments upon which it is founded and which are necessary for its existence (ibid.:67).

Introduction to

The Rules of Sociological Method

Quotes from The Rules of Sociological Method

A social fact is to be recognized by the power of external coercion which it exercises or is capable of exercising over individuals, and the presence of this power may be recognized in its turn either by the existence of some specific sanction or by the resistance offered against every individual effort that tends to violate it.

In the above quote Durkheim is explaining that social facts act OUTSIDE us and on or to us. Think about it this way- we adhere to social norms because they exist beyond us (I like t to think about is a bunch of social facts floating in the atmosphere and directing us in some way)– and there are sanctions for not doing so.

Introduction to

The Division of Labor in Society
Durkheim believed that societies and the people within them were bonded and presented a whole (i,e. worked as a society) because there was a strong sense of collective consciousness – people felt the same and believed the same things. This begins to change after the industrial revolution and French Revolution – why do you think?
In the next slide – we will see the different types of solidarities– which means the unity of feelings and actions.

Durkheim beleived that there were two basic types of solidarity: mechanical and organic.

In his view of society people stayed together as a society and certain rules, values and norms emerged as social facts that guided people’s actions. Remember Durkheim is writing at a time of great social change. Society is changing at a rapid pace and Durkheim (just like Marx) wants to understand how society is able to function and maintain even if the way it is organized has changed so dramatically.

Solidarity

Mechanical Solidarity
Mechanical solidarity is typified by feelings of likeness. It is rooted in everyone doing/feeling the same thing. Type of solidarity is characteristic of small, traditional societies.
We can think about this as tribal societies where people all work the land or hunt and the collective– the good of the small tribe is more important than the individual.
We can also think about older societies where people lived in the same village their whole lives. You likely knew who you were going to marry from an early age, you did not decide to go to college– you likely worked the same job your family had always worked (so if your father was the town blacksmith you would too) and you believed in the same god (one church). The social norms of the place would be shared by all, it would highly improbable for you to believe that you were different than others.

Organic Solidarity
Organic solidarity refers to a type of solidarity in which each person is interdependent with others, forming a complex web of cooperative associations. It comes from cultivating individual differences and knowing that each is doing her part for the good of the whole.
This is the type of society we live in. We all have different roles to play in society, and each roles makes us work together as a whole. We can think of this in terms of small units- like a family, and how each family member’s role is important in the functioning of the family. We also need to think about this on a larger scale, in modern societies we all have different roles that together work to make the society work.

Durkheim argued that the increasing specialization and individuation so readily apparent in modern industrial societies does not necessarily result in a decline in social stability or cohesion. Rather, the growth in a society’s density (the number of people living in a community) and consequent increasingly specialized division of labor can result in simply a different type of social cohesion.

Introduction to

The Division of Labor in Society

Often times when we think about division of labor, we think about it purely in economic terms, that if each person specializes in something than it is more efficient (think of a production line). Marx had a lot say about division of labor (remember he believed that it causes alienation – that people are alienated from the production process and the product if there is too much division of labor).
Durkheim looked at the division of labor in economic terms and also in sociological terms. In for industrial societies to work, there needed (and needs to be) people specializing in different things. We are no longer agricultural societies where everyone plants or hunts.

The Division of Labor in Society

Division of Labor Cont.
A “normal” division of labor exists only when the specialization of tasks is not exaggerated. If the division of labor is pushed too far, there is a danger for the individual to become “isolated in his special activity.”

The individual “no longer feels the idea of common work being done by those who work side by side with him” (ibid.).

Durkheim used the term anomie (a lack of moral regulation) to describe the “pathological” consequences of an overly specialized division of labor. So this is a bit similar to Marx’ idea of alienation, remember how people became alienated from their fellow worker? Marx argued that this was because the capitalists pitted people against each other and there was always competition.

Durkheim sees this as a problem that people now do not feel connected to each other because their work is so different. They are not bound by a feeling of sameness.

Division of Labor
Durkheim argued that economic specialization was not necessarily “bad” for either the individual or the society as a whole. Instead, he argued that an extensive division of labor could exist without necessarily jeopardizing the moral cohesion of a society or the opportunity for individuals to realize their interests.
But things would be different– people might join groups made up of workers in their area and feel less isolated and also be bound by the collective values, norms of that group.

Introduction to

The Division of Labor in Society

Introduction to

The Division of Labor in Society

Quotations from The Division of Labor in Society
“We can then formulate the following proposition: The division of labor varies in direct ratio with the volume and density of societies, and, if it progresses in a continuous manner in the course of social development, it is because societies become regularly denser and generally more voluminous”.
Remember Durkheim is writing at a time when we see large increases in urbanization (and population– there is more food and more medicine – people are living longer). So he is interested in what happens as urbanization (i.e. denser cities) continues to happens and believes that it will go hand in hand with more division of labor. Why do you think this might be?

“But not only does the division of labor present the character by which we have defined morality; it more and more tends to become the essential condition of social solidarity”

So in essence – Durkheim is saying that the division of labor is how people are organized in society and why industrial societies work. Durkheim is a functionalist. He believed that each member (and subgroups) of society has a function and together these roles form a whole. We are interdependent- i.e. we depend on one another for society to function, but our dependence has to do with each one of us having different roles. A good way to think about this is a living organism or a cell – within each cell there are parts (nucleus, mitochondria, etc.) that all must function together to work and be a cell. Each piece depends on one another. According to Durkheim, society is that cell and we are the different parts. Of course this cell analogy is for modern societies (characterized by organic solidarity). Traditional societies worked because everyone did more or less the SAME thing and believed in the same thing– that is where their sense of morality (or collective consciousness as Durkheim calls it) came from.

Quotations from The Division of Labor in Society