Emile Durkheim

Emile Durkheim

Introduction

Emile Durkheim was a French sociologist, well known for his focus on broad social topics, such as education, religion, and crime. Often credited as the “father of modern sociology,” Durkheim has contributed numerous works that have helped shape the field, including The Division of Labor in Society, The Rules of Sociological Method, and The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (Durkheim, 1997).

Background and Context

Born in Lorraine, in France, of Jewish parentage, Durkheim graduated from the elite Ecole Normale in 1882. After a period as a secondary school teacher, he was appointed in 1887 to teach a course in social science and pedagogy at the University of Bordeaux, becoming professor of social science in 1896, the first such post in France. In 1902, he was appointed to teach pedagogy at the Sorbonne in Paris, becoming a professor in the Science of Education in 1906; in 1913, the post was renamed the Chair in the Science of Education and Pedagogy, which he held until his death(Durkheim, 1997).

Works

The Division of Labor in Society (1893)

For Durkheim, morality referred to forms of acting and thinking that originated outside of the individual in laws and customs; they were constraining in that their infringement invited punishment or moral censure. In his first major publication, The Division of Labor in Society (1893), Durkheim studied the moral foundations of social cohesion. He argued that modern industrialized and market societies had evolved from less complex social structures characterized by a limited division of labor (Roger, 1998).

The Suicide (1897)

In a later study, Suicide (1897), Durkheim developed his analysis of the pathologies endemic to modernity. Increased specialization and differentiation resulted in individuals becoming detached from group identities and traditional beliefs and practices: Lacking moral guidelines, they became susceptible to depression and suicide. In modern societies, individuals were emancipated from group ...