What Aspects of Modernity Most Worried Durkheim?

Pope and Johnson (1983) state that Durkheim proposed that society revitalizes individuals and gives them strength to persevere in the face of the vicissitudes of everyday life. Stones (2008), further states that Durkheim felt that we acquired all the best in ourselves and all the things that distinguish us from other animals from our social existence. Thought, language, world-views, rationality, morality and aspirations are derived from society. Thus, the unsocialised individual, the individual divorced form society, the beast within us, is a poor approximation of the highly socialised beings that constitute societies.

A significant concept developed by Durkheim is that of anomie, a term used to describe the breakdown of social solidarity and a state of normlessness in which members of society begin to feel alienated. In an anomic society, there is no longer a societal consensus as to what behavior is considered normal or deviant and people no longer know how to react in various social contexts. Durkheim stated that anomie would result for two reasons. The first reason was attributed to the the division of labor in society creating inequality, class conflict, poor social relationships, and a dearth of meaningful roles (Willis, 1982). Durkheim felt that a lack of meaningful roles in particular, caused individuals to accept social status and occupations that were below their level of talent and potential. This created frustration and strain as individuals felt as though they were not given the same opportunity to achieve success as others. The second cause of anomie that Durkheim stated was the disparity between needs and means (Willis, 1982). This meant that in order for happiness to exist within an individual, they must have a realistic chance of achieving their needs based upon the means they have access to. Durkheim felt that a large discrepancy between needs and available means would lead an individual to become hopeless with their situation and contemplate suicide.

In DHN, Durkheim argues that sociology must examine what an individual consists of because it is a result of the whole society. It is this society

Emile Durkheim also mentioned anomie- which is the lack of regulation or breakdown of norms. It is a state of “normlessness”- people do not know where they belong. A disconnect emerges between your desires and what you can have. Masses of people did not feel connected to the whole because of the quick change from traditional to modern societies. According to Durkheim, it was the internalization of social morality. Too many people were not integrated into society, and their capacity of needs were unlimited. Industrialization dissolved restraints on the passions of humans. Traditional societies taught people to control their lives through religion. Modern, industrious, societies separated people through the division of labor. There is no limitation on what we desire or go after. There is social disorganization and too many possibilities. As a result we cannot reach our goals. Durkheim says there has to be a limitation on our wants and desires. In the film we saw people in traditional societies satisfied with what they had because noone around them had more or less. They were on a solidarity

Durkheim’s theory of anomie and Marx’s theory of alienation have had a very strong influence on the sociological understandings of modern life. Critically compare these two concepts.

As organic solidarity is typical of complex, industrialised societies, Durkheim’s theory is very applicable to modern life and the first world in particular. Individuality is a major feature of people living in the western world today e.g. the USA, UK, and Ireland. This is evident in our political and social thinking. Much emphasis is placed on personal rights and the belief that nothing is more important than us. (Hughes et al, 1995) Meanwhile we are not self-sufficient; we rely heavily on the expertise of thousands globally to live our daily lives e.g. the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the cars we drive etc. (Macionis and Plummer, 2005)

Anomie has been defined as "social instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values; a weakening of the normative order in society or societal normalness; [or] cultural chaos produced when social organization fails to respond to non conformity of its members" (Arrigo, 2006, p. 316). Among the two leading theorists of anomie and its causes are Emile Durkheim and Robert Merton.

Durkheim was focused on setting the social level apart where independence is kept. He recognized that people in a society have different susceptibility to suicide and the influences that make them to

Durkheim believed that the individual has no way of limiting passions, so the moral authority of society must do this. Individual aspirations are limited two ways, by socialisation and social integration. Socialisation helps us learn the rules of society and the need to cooperate. Social integration allows us to integrate into society and reinforce our respect for its rules. These both, as stated by Durkheim create a strong collective conscience.

“According to Durkheim, the state of normlessness that people find themselves in as a result of a

Modernity, it is a macro process of transition from traditional to modern society. “Formation of a modern political map of the world began in early 1800 in Western Europe and maybe characterized as the product of the twin revolutions.” European colonization of the New World, the economic and political development of new territories led to significant changes in the political map. Modernity it is a complex of multi-faceted process that took a place in Europe during the 18th century and had covered all aspects of society. The modernity of the production meant the industrialization - is constantly growing use of machines. In the social sphere modernization is closely linked with urbanization, an unprecedented growth of cities, which led to prevailing in the economic life of society. In the political sphere modernity meant the democracy of political structures, laying the preconditions for the formation of a civil society and rule of law. In the spiritual realm associated with secularization -: the release of all spheres of public and private life from the separation of religion and the church, their worldliness and intensive development of literacy, education, scientific knowledge. All of these are inextricably linked to each other processes of change emotional attitudes of man,

With modernization and industrialization, labour became increasingly specialized. Before this in the pre- modern societies, all workers did almost the same work in order to sustain themselves. These workers shared social cohesion base on similarity and commonality among themselves. This ‘mechanical solidarity’ was soon replaced by ‘organic solidarity’. With organic solidarity social cohesion was based on each individual’s dependence on every other in the society for survival. (The Emile Durkheim Archive, Solidarity)

Durkheim was one of the most influential sociologists in relation to the functionalist theories which stated society consisted of a structural consensus with a collective conscience of shared norms and values. He argued in order to establish the meaning of society one must understand the structures and social facts. He highlights changes in society from traditional societies which were linked with mechanical solidarity consisting of small scale ties with little division of labour. This in turn created a strong collective conscience of unity in comparison to modern society where differences amongst groups are promoted in turn weakening social solidarity. This is due to rapid changes within society in which Durkheim emphasises is due to a complex division of labour. Durkheim then argues that due to the combination of enlightenment notions and a capitalist society a collective conscience of individualism and greed is created. (Jones, Bradbury and Boutillier, 2011, pp.62-64)

This essay will look at social facts and the significance of them to Durkheim’s work, Emile

Durkheim was an early sociologist whom is widely known for his theories on the structure of society, including its functioning in traditional and modern societies and the contrast between individualism yet social order. Unlike the other sociologists of his era, his theories analysed external features or "social facts", such as social structure, rather than internal/ psychological features such as a person 's desires and motives. These social facts are made up of the values, morals and structures within a society. "According to Durkheim collective consciousnesses, values and rules are critical to a functional society" (Hurst, 2015). Durkheim 's book "Suicide" (2002) presented the concept of anomie. "The term anomie refers to a condition or state in which