Lecture 3: Durkheim Flashcards
(32 cards)
1
Q
Durkheim
A
- One of the founding fathers of sociology
- Maintaining order and social cohesion
- Known for the Division of Labour
- Recognized as the first French academic sociologist
2
Q
Durkehim’s foci
A
- Focused on morality, religion, and law
- Law was the least important; morality was central
3
Q
law as a reflection of morality
A
- Legal phenomena are manifestations of moral or religious phenomena
- Society is a moral phenomenon, sustained by shared beliefs and sentiments
- Law mirrors these moral beliefs and sentiments
Ex. Civil rights legislation reflects the belief that racial discrimination is wrong
4
Q
Durkheim’s approach to legal sociology
A
- Did not develop a systematic sociology of law due to his focus on morality and religion
- Provided and expansive, controversial explanation of legal evolution
- Explored law across all societies and historical periods to understand their evolutionary relations
5
Q
Durkheim’s pivotal works
A
- The Division of Labour in Society (1893): examines what holds society together
- The Rules of Sociological Methods (1895): defines sociology’s subject matter
6
Q
the influence of Durkheim’s works
A
- Introduced foundational sociological concepts
- Concepts later applied to studies on suicide, religion, eduaction, morality, and punishment
7
Q
social facts
A
the objective, external norms and values that influence individual behaviour
8
Q
collective consciousness
A
- Defined as the totality of beliefs and sentiments common to the average members of a society
- Functions as a group mind regulating morality and guiding behaviour
- Provides shared norms and values that define right and wrong
- Essential for maintaining social order and cohesion
- Evolves with societal structures and levels of solidarity
9
Q
mechanical solidarity
A
- Cohesion in small, traditional, and pre industrial communities
- Based on homogeneity: members share similar beliefs, values, and ways of life
- Creates a strong bonding force through mutual resemblances
10
Q
organic solidarity
A
- Cohesion in complex, modern societies with a highly differentiated division of labour
- Based on specialization of tasks and interdependence rather than shared beliefs
11
Q
purpose of social facts
A
- Established sociology as a distinct academic discipline
- Differentiated sociology from psychology, philosophy, and biology
- Rooted in positivism, using scientific methods to study sociology
12
Q
definition of social facts
A
- Ways of acting, thinking, and feeling, external to the individual, and endowed with the power of coercion
- External to individuals but influence their behaviour
- Ex. norms, values, gender roles, morality, institutions, suicide rates, and law
13
Q
characteristics of social facts
A
- objective reality
- phenomena sui generis
- persistent and coercive
14
Q
objective reality
A
exist independently of individual consciousness, yet influence behaviour
15
Q
Phenomena sui generis
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autonomous and distant from physical, biological, and psychological phenomena
16
Q
persistent and coercive
A
resistant to change, enduring across generations, and constraining individual actions
17
Q
law as a pre-eminent social fact
A
- Long-standing and likely to persist indefinitely
- Coercive: prohibits behaviours like murder or theft, with real consequences for violations
- External: perceived as “out there,” part of an objective social reality
- Observable: written in codes, constitutions, and legal texts
18
Q
studying social facts
A
- Treated as things and studied through positivist methods (observation, measurement)
- Nonmaterial social facts (ex. Collective consciousness) measured indirectly though correlated indicators
19
Q
strength of collective consciousness
A
- Stronger and more precise in societies with mechanical solidarity (traditional, homogenous)
- Weaker and less precise in societies with organic solidarity (modern, diverse, specialized)
20
Q
key features of mechanical solidarity
A
- collective consciousness
- division of labour
21
Q
division of labour in mechanical solidarity
A
Simple and undifferentiated
Roles based on traditional expectations
22
Q
example of mechanical solidarity
A
- Amish communities
- Homogeneity: uniform dress reflects shared values
- Division of labour: traditional gender roles in farming and household tasks
- Collective consciousness: religion and custom define their way of life
23
Q
significance of mechanical solidarity
A
- Found in primitive, preindustrial, and religious subcultures
- Emphasizes shared morality and strong social cohesion
24
Q
key characteristics of organic solidarity
A
- Independence: individuals rely on each other to perform specialized roles
- Weaker collective consciousness
- Greater diversity of beliefs and values
- Social cohesion relies on functional relationships not homogeneity
- Restitutive laws: focus on restoring order or compensating for wrongs
25
examples of organic solidarity
- Modern industrialized societies with complex economies and diverse institutions
- Cities where individuals perform specialized jobs (ex. Doctors, teachers, engineers) and depend on one another for goods and services
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organic vs. mechanical solidarity
- Mechanical: based on similarity and strong collective morality
- Organic: based on difference and functional interdependence
27
significance of organic solidarity
- Reflects societal evolution from traditional to modern structures
- Highlights the shift from shared morality to cooperative relationships
28
law as a reflection of social solidarity
- Societies evolve from mechanical solidarity to organic solidarity
- Social solidarity is a moral phenomenon and morality underpins law
- Law reflects the moral beliefs and sentiments of a society
29
law as a methodological indicator
- Social solidarity cannot be directly observed and measured
- Codified law serves as the external and visible symbol of social integration
- Law provides a measurable way to gauge the type and level of solidarity
30
Durkheim's sociological thermometer analogy
Just as a physicist measures the health via the rise and fall of mercury, Durkheim uses law as the sociological thermometer of social cohesion
31
concomitant variation
- A society’s type and amount of law corresponds to its type and amount of solidarity
- Mechanical solidarity: repressive laws dominate, punishing deviance harshly
- Organic solidarity: restitutive laws prevail, focusing on restoring order and addressing disputes
32
significance of the shift from repressive to restitutive law
Law becomes a tool to empirically observe and analyze the evolving structure and integration of societies
