Durkheim’s concepts
The fact that we have a society at all is a kind of amazing. People with different interests, different amounts of money, and members of different sub cultures, races, and sexual orientations, somehow all manage to hold together in this thing we called society. The thing that at least kind of works. But it doesn’t just hold together. Society has to somehow endure periods of intense change without falling apart. Political change, technological change, population growth, economic crisis, all these…...
Solidarity
Durkheim on Solidarity and Social Facts
Durkheim had two major focal points in his studies. He talks about solidarity (mechanical and organic) and social facts. Durkheim states that division of labor is universal across society and is defined as the increase in specialization with regards to production and manufacturing. This division of labor creates solidarity. Solidarity is defined in sociology as something that attracts men strongly to one another, ensures frequent contacts between them, and multiplies the opportunities available to enter the mutual relationship. This solidarity…...
Solidarity
Mechanical and Organic Solidarity
The Division of Labor in Society was written by a French sociologist named Emile Durkheim in 1893. Durkheim focused on is the idea of cohesion, which helps understand what unifies individuals. This was a particular area of interest as France had undergone many changes in government, politics and religion in individual’s lives. Unlike Auguste Comte, who believed that there would be a natural progression out of capitalism initiated by revolutions, Durkheim believed capitalism was viable. He also believe that relationships…...
Solidarity
Organic Solidarity and Gesellschaft
Humans are sociable in nature and as such live in communities and various societies. The human association is as such one of the most important elements of the existence of man. According to Ferdinand Toennies, the two types of human relationships are Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft (Andersen & Taylor, 2008). The associations are based on the social structure in a community. A community be a group of individuals living in the same locality or are related to one or the other.…...
Solidarity
Solidarity Principle
What does solidarity mean, how can it be interpreted, or how it is used in context? Is solidarity simple and straightforward? Is it a feeling? Does it relate to anything else like compassion? What does it produce? What does it require? Does it exist alone? Is there an end game, how long does it last? Is solidarity is a farfetched dream, maybe a way of life, or perhaps it is something deeper? Does one have to be a person of…...
Solidarity
Institutional Discrimination and Solidarity
For about 250 years we had slavery in America, 90 years of Jim Crow, 60 years of “separate but equal,” and 35 years of racist housing policy. All these years of racism and discrimination has brought not only individual discrimination between one person and another, but also institutional discrimination carried out by social institutions. One of the worst policies introduced by a social institution, that still affects us today was, “the Federal Housing Administration” that was introduced in 1934 and…...
Solidarity
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