Durkheim - Understanding Social Change (seminar 4)

Module: Understanding Social Change


Week 4 – Durkheim


From Durkheim’s standpoint, what did the industrial revolution give us?
 The division of labour
 Dynamic density
 Organic solidarity
 Idea for modernity
 Mass production allowing for consumerism
 Individualism
 Anomie – we are taking part in something that we don’t have a picture of the
whole. It’s about the problems in society that causes the individual not to take
part. It’s about a lack of integration and regulation.

 Standards – ways of acting and ways of being
 Creation of rules – we only get those rules when we need them e.g.
getting a divorce
 Mapping of life through standards
 Looking for order in life
 The beginning of functionalism


Name a few of the things Durkheim’s theories gave us:
 Social facts
 Collective conscience
 Solidarity  creates a collective link
 Division of labour  it’s related to solidarity


Durkheim – Division of Labour
What is the ‘role’ of the division of labour in society? List three important factors for
Durkheim.
 It plays a major factor in social relations as the division of labour becomes
more complex, there is greater need for accountability and regulation, as well
as creating new forms of social cohesion.
 Improves production – it improves specialization and makes for an advanced
society. Example: the creation of smartphones has allowed for people to go
into specialised areas of developing apps for smartphones.
 New moral principles
 Moral regulation – division of labour shows you how much you are indebted to
other people’s activities. If you don’t do your job, how can you expect other
people to do their job?