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The Division of Labor

in Society

An Overview of the book by

Emile Durkheim

The Division of Labor in Society is a book

written, originally in French, by Emile

Durkheim in 1893. It was Durkheim’s first

maor !ublishe" work an" the one in which heintro"uce" the conce!t of anomie, or the

 break"own of the influence of social norms on

in"i#i"uals within a society. $t the time, The

 Division of Labor in Society was influential ina"#ancing sociological theories an" thought.

In The Division of Labor in Society, Durkheim

"iscusses how the "i#ision of labor  is beneficial

for society because it increases the re!ro"ucti#eca!acity, the skill of the workman, an" it creates

a feeling of soli"arity between !eo!le. %he

"i#ision of labor goes beyon" economic

interests& it also establishes social an" moral

or"er within a society.

%here are two kin"s of social soli"arity,

accor"ing to Durkheim' mechanical soli"arity

an" organic soli"arity. (echanical soli"arity

connects the in"i#i"ual to society without any

interme"iary. %hat is, society is organi)e"

collecti#ely an" all members of the grou! share

the same beliefs. %he bon" that bin"s the

in"i#i"ual to society is this collecti#e conscious, 

this share" belief system.

*ith organic soli"arity, on the other han",

society is a system of "ifferent functions that are

unite" by "efinite relationshi!s. Each in"i#i"ual

must ha#e a "istinct ob or action an" a

 !ersonality that is his or her own. In"i#i"uality

grows as !arts of society grow. %hus, society

 becomes more efficient at mo#ing in sync, yet at

the same time, each of its !arts has more

mo#ements that are "istinctly its own.

$ccor"ing to Durkheim, the more !rimiti#e a

society is, the more it is characteri)e" by

mechanical soli"arity. %he members of that

society are more likely to resemble each other

an" share the same beliefs an" morals. $s

societies becomes more a"#ance" an" ci#ili)e",the in"i#i"ual members of those societies start to

 become more uni+ue an" "istinguishable from

each other. oli"arity becomes more organic asthese societies "e#elo! their "i#isions of labor.

Durkheim also "iscusses law e-tensi#ely in this

 book. %o him, law is the most #isible symbol of

social soli"arity an" the organi)ation of social

life in its most !recise an" stable form. aw

 !lays a !art in society that is analogous to the

ner#ous system in organisms, accor"ing to

Durkheim. %he ner#ous system regulates #arious bo"y functions so they work together in

harmony. ikewise, the legal system regulates

all the !arts of society so that they work together 

in agreement.

%wo ty!es of law e-ist an" each corres!on"s to a

ty!e of social soli"arity. %he first ty!e of law,

re!ressi#e law, im!oses some ty!e of

 !unishment on the !er!etrator. /e!ressi#e law

corres!on"s to the 0center of common

consciousness’ an" ten"s to stay "iffuse"

throughout society. /e!ressi#e law corres!on"sto the mechanical state of society.

%he secon" ty!e of law is restituti#e law, which

"oes not necessarily im!ly any suffering on the

 !art of the !er!etrator, but rather tries to restore

the relationshi!s that were "isturbe" from their

normal form by the crime that occurre".

/estituti#e law corres!on"s to the organic state

of society an" works through the more

s!eciali)e" bo"ies of society, such as the courts

an" lawyers.

%his also means that re!ressi#e law an"

restitutory law #ary "irectly with the "egree of a

society’s "e#elo!ment. /e!ressi#e law is

common in !rimiti#e, or mechanical, societies

where sanctions for crimes are ty!ically ma"e

across the whole community. In these lower

societies, crimes against the in"i#i"ual are

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common, yet !lace" on the lower en" of the

 !enal la""er. rimes against the community take

 !riority because the e#olution of the collecti#e

conscious is wi"es!rea" an" strong while the

"i#ision of labor has not yet ha!!ene". %he morea society becomes ci#ili)e" an" the "i#ision of

labor is intro"uce", the more restitutory lawtakes !lace.

Durkheim bases his "iscussion of organicsoli"arity on a "is!ute with 2erber !encer, who

claime" that in"ustrial soli"arity is s!ontaneous

an" that there is no nee" for a coerci#e bo"y to

create or maintain it. !encer belie#e" that

social harmony is sim!ly establishe" by itself

an" Durkheim "isagrees. (uch of this book,

then, is Durkheim arguing with !encer’s stance

an" !lea"ing his own #iews on the to!ic.

Durkheim also s!en"s some time "iscussing

"i#ision of labor an" how it is cause". %o him,

the "i#ision of labor is in "irect !ro!ortion to the

moral "ensity of the society. %his increase can

ha!!en in three ways' through an increase of the

concentration of !eo!le s!atially, through the

growth of towns, or through an increase in the

number an" efficacy of the means of

communication. *hen one or more of these

things ha!!en, labor starts to become "i#i"e"

 because the struggle for e-istence becomes more

strenuous.

/eferences

Durkheim, E. 19945. %he Di#ision of abor in ociety. 6ew 7ork, 67' Free

ress.

answer these +uestions base" on the article gi#en'

1. what is the name of Emile Durkheim’s book

:. e-!lain the conce!t of anomie.

3. what is the functionalist !ers!ecti#e of "i#ision of labor

a5

 b5

c5

"5

;. accor"ing to Durkheim, there are : kin"s of social soli"arity,

which are <<<<<<<<<< an" <<<<<<<<<<<.

=. e-!lain the ty!es of soli"arity an" !ro#i"e one e-am!le for each ty!e.

a5

 b5

>. aw !lays a !art in society that is analogous to

the<<<<<<<<<< in organisms, accor"ing to Durkheim.

4. Durkheim "isagree" with 2erbert !encer’s #iews on

soli"arity, e-!lain in your own wor"s what he "isagree" about.

8. what causes "i#ision of labor

a5

 b5

c5