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Emile Durkheim: the Division of Labor in Society

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Emile Durkheim: the Division of Labor in Society
Malinda Lawrence Reading Notes Sociology 616 February 2, 2009 Emile Durkheim: The Division of Labor in Society In The Division of Labor in Society,Durkheim explains the function, reason, regulation and development of the division of labor. He does this by describing two different types of solidarity; mechanical and organic, and how mechanical societies can evolve into organic ones. He uses explanation of crime and the punishments that come from it to explain these solidarities. His claim is that the division of labor is the main source of social solidarity. Durkheim begins with the hypothesis that the division of labor serves to create social solidarity, not to produce civilization. He claims that the division of labor can create a feeling of solidarity between two or more people and that it is a necessary condition for a society’s intellectual and material development. There are two main types of social solidarity, mechanical and organic. Mechanical solidarity is a collective type which links individuals directly to society and unites members of that society without compromising their individuality. Members of a mechanical society are able to maintain their independence of one another. In a mechanical society members are given a feeling of likeness that is rooted in the fact that they take part in similar activities and hold similar beliefs. The collective conscience is formed by the moral conciseness of the society and individual consciousness depends upon the collective consciousness. Mechanical solidarity is then perpetuated through the use of repressive laws which work to repress the crime and the criminal through a punishment that collective consciousness reinforces. This solidarity is static and unchanging; with the only exception being the transition a society may enter from mechanical to organic society. Organic solidarity, unlike mechanical, assumes that people are different from one another and assigns each individual different tasks that they are naturally able to succeed in making the members of a society dependent on one another. The members of an organic society are connected through the interdependence created by this specialization of tasks. Durkheim states that the division of laboris brought about by a “society in a system of different functions united by definite relationships” (pp.83). In an organic society each individual must have a specialized action and a personality all his own in order to contribute to the society. The members are still able to maintain individuality although they are not independent because they all dependent on one another for their survival so they are. In this type of society, “there is greater the individuality and greater cohesion of [the] society” (pp131). Also unlike mechanical solidarity, organic solidarity has the ability to evolve and change. This type of solidarity is expressed through restituitive laws which are based on the differences between people in a society that bind them together. This type of law does not seek so much to punish the offender but instead to return the damaged back to its original state. The division of labor uses law as an indicator of social solidarity. Mechanical uses repressive laws and organic uses restituitive laws. Repressive laws are those covered under penal or criminal laws, where some type of damage is forced upon the perpetrator. In contrast restituitive laws are those which can be related to civil law. It focuses on the restoration of disturbed relationships back to their original form as opposed to punishment which may cause suffering to the offender. Durkheim talks about two types of consciousness that influence each other within each of us; collective and individual. Collective consciousness is “the totality of beliefs and sentiments common to the average member of a society that forms a determinate system with a life of its own” (pp. 87). Crime is always defined in terms of collective consciousness. Crime consists of acts that are universally condemned by the embers of a society. It “shocks the sentiments which are found in all healthy conscience for a given social system” (pp. 80). According to Durkheim, “an act is criminal when it offends the strong, well defined states of the collective consciousness,” and that an act does not offend the “common consciousness because it is criminal, but it is criminal because it offends that consciousness” (pp. 80-81). Punishing criminal activity reinforces the common consciousness of a society. Punishment consists of submitting criminal activity to a collective body for judgment. There are different types of crimes but the common element is the, “reaction to crimes from society in respect of punishment” (pp.70). The characteristics of the punishment of a crime are derived from the nature of the crime that has been committed; therefore there are different reactions to different types of crimes. At the root of all punishments across all societies is an emotional response. Durkheim explains the division of labor as developing regularly as history proceeds and a society’s segmentation decreases. Segmentary societies are those societies with “mechanical solidarity where isolated groups are all encompassing.” As social segments lose individuality that divides members from each otherthe division of labor increases. As more individuals are sufficiently in contact with each other and as they are able to act and react mutually the division of labor progresses (pg. 181). He identifies the two main cause of the division of labor as being the increase in dynamic density and the increase in volume. Dynamic density is when societies move from being hunter-gathering based towards agricultural and become more geographically concentrated and towns begin to develop towns. As this occurs, the social needs of an area increase and the means and speed of communication become quicker and more reliable. The increase in volume is only a factor when the density increases as well. According to this the division of labor varies in direct proportion to the volume and density of societies and it “progresses in a continuous manner over the course of social development.” The increase in population creates competition in which people must diversify to survive so that everyone is not competing for the same resources. This creates a more divided labor force. “For the division of labor to function groups which apparently perform distinct tasks must actually intermingle and be absorbed into one another” (pp.268). The division of labor then becomes the result of the struggle to survive. Durkheim also states that highest levels of society see the lowest existence of inequality. This made me wonder about where the united would actually fall in terms of Durkheim’s thought on the division of labor. The United States prides itself on being the highest of society, yet there is more inequality here than some other nations. Though perfect equality is never possible, is our society really as high as we let ourselves believe? * I used a different edition of the book than most of the class so my page numbers are different from theirs.

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