from Polish wiki from web site declaration of GNU Free Documentation License source::http://www.marxists.org/glossary/ File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. Click on date to download the file or see the image uploaded...

David Émile Durkheim ( April 15 is the 105th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (106th in leap years). There are 260 days remaining. Events 1400-1899 1450 - Battle of Formigny; Toward the end of the Hundred Years War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in northern... April 15, 1858 is a common year starting on Friday. Events January 14 - Felice Orsini and his accomplices fail to assassinate Napoleon III in Paris but their bombs kill 156 bystanders. Because of the involvement of French émigrés living in Britain, there is a brief anti-British feeling in France but... 1858 - November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. Events 600-1799 655 - Battle of Winwaed: Penda of Mercia defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria. 1515 - Thomas Cardinal Wolsey invested as a Cardinal 1777 - American Revolutionary War: After 16... November 15, 1917 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). Events January-February President Woodrow Wilson of the United States announces to Congress the breaking of diplomatic relations with Germany January 2 - The Royal Bank of Canada takes over Quebec Bank. January 22 - World War I: President Woodrow... 1917) is known as one of the founders of modern Sociology is the study of the social lives of humans, groups and societies. It concerns itself with the social rules and processes that bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as members of associations, groups, and institutions. Sociology is interested in our behavior as social beings; thus the... sociology. He was also in 1895 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). Events January January 5 - Dreyfus Affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devils Island. February February 14 - First showing of Oscar Wildes last play The Importance of... 1895 the founder of first European university department of sociology and in 1896 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). Events January - April January 4 - Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. January 5 - An Austrian newspaper reports that Wilhelm Röntgen discovered a type of radiation later known as X-rays. January 12 - H... 1896 the founder of one of the first A journal (through French from late Latin diurnalis, daily) is a daily record of events or business. A private journal is usually an elaborated diary. When applied to a newspaper or other periodical the word is strictly used of one published each day; but any publication issued at stated intervals... journals devoted to Terms like SOSE (Studies of Society & the Environment) not only refer to social sciences but also studies of the environment. See geography for such a subject. The social sciences comprise the application of scientific methods to the study of the human aspects of the world. They are also known... social science, L'Année Sociologique.

Biography

Durkheim was born in Épinal, The French Republic or France ( French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. France is a democracy organised as a... France, which is in Capital Metz Area 23,547 km² Regional President Jean-Pierre Masseret Population  - 2005 estimate  - 1999 census  - Density 2,310,376 98/km² Arrondissements 19 Cantons 157 Communes 2,337 Départements Meurthe-et-Moselle Meuse Moselle Vosges Lorraine ( German: Lothringen) is a historical area... Lorraine. He came from a long line of devout French Jews -- both his father and grandfather had been See Semicha for article about ordination of rabbis. Rabbi ( Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbī; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbī) in Judaism, commonly refers to the spiritual leader of a Jewish synagogue. The term means teacher, or more literally... Rabbis. Durkheim himself lived a completely secular life. Much of his work, in fact, was dedicated to demonstrating that religious phenomena stemmed from social rather than divine factors. His Jewish background did, however, shape his sociology - many of his students and collaborators were fellow Jews, and often blood relatives.

A precocious student, Durkheim entered the École Normale Supérieure in 1879. His entering class was one of the most brilliant of the nineteenth century and many of his classmates, such as Jean Jaurès and Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (October 18, 1859 - January 4, 1941) was a French philosopher, influential in France, but out of the main currents of his time. Life and work Bergsons life was the quiet and uneventful one of a French professor, the chief landmarks in it being the... Henri Bergson would go on to become major figures in France's intellectual life. At the ENS Durkheim studied with Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges (March 18, 1830 - September 12, 1889) was a French historian. Born in Paris, of Breton descent, after studying at the École Normale Supérieure he was sent to the French school at Athens in 1853, directed some excavations in Chios, and wrote an historical account... Fustel de Coulanges, a classicist with a social scientific outlook. At the same time, he read Auguste Comte Auguste Comte (full name Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte) (January 17 (recorded January 19), 1798 _ September 5, 1857) was a positivist thinker and a founder of the discipline of sociology. His life Known as the Father of Sociology, he was born in Montpellier. After attending... Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer. Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 - 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher. He was born in Derby. Educated mostly at home, Spencer worked first as a railways civil engineer beginning at age 16, writing in his spare time. In 1848, Spencer became a sub-editor on The Economist... Herbert Spencer. Thus Durkheim became interested in a scientific approach to society very early on in his career. This meant the first of many conflicts with the French academic system, which had no social science curriculum at the time. Durkheim found humanistic studies uninteresting, and he finished second to last in his graduating class when he agregated in philosophy in 1882.

Durkheim's interest in social phenomena was also spurred on by politics. France's defeat in the Battle of Gravelotte Main article: Battle of Gravelotte Battle of Sedan Main article: Battle of Sedan The French were soundly defeated in several battles owing to the military superiority of the Prussian forces and their commanders. At Sedan on September 2, the French emperor Napoleon III was taken prisoner with... Franco-Prussian War had created a backlash against secular, republican rule and many considered a Catholic, vigorously nationalistic France the only way to rejuvenate France's fading power on the continent. Durkheim, a Jew and socialist, was thus in the political minority, a situation which galvanized him politically. The Alfred Dreyfus in an army uniform, wearing a mustache. The Dreyfus Affair was a political scandal which divided France for many years during the late 19th century. It centered on the 1894 treason conviction of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish artillery officer in the French army. Dreyfus was, in fact, innocent... Dreyfus affair of 1894 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). Events January 7 - W.K. Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film. January 8 - A fire at the Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago causes a good deal of damage. January 9 - New England Telephone and Telegraph... 1894 only strengthened his activist stance.

There was no way that a man of Durkheim's views could receive a major academic appointment in Paris, and so after spending a year studying sociology in Germany he traveled to City motto: Lilia sola regunt lunam undas castra leonem. ( Latin: Only the fleur-de-lis rule over the moon, the waves, the castle, and the lion) City proper ( commune) Région Aquitaine Département Gironde (33) Mayor Hugues Martin ( UMP) (since 2004) Area 49.36 km² Population... Bordeaux in 1887 is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar). Events January January 20 - The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base. January 21 - The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is formed January 26 - Battle of Dogali: Abyssinian troops defeat Italians... 1887, which had just started France's first teacher's training center. There he taught both Pedagogy is the art or science of teaching. The word comes from the ancient Greek paidagogos, the slave who took children to and from school. (see Paideia.) The word “paida” refers to children, which is why some like to make the distinction between pedagogy (teaching children) and andragogy... pedagogy and Terms like SOSE (Studies of Society & the Environment) not only refer to social sciences but also studies of the environment. See geography for such a subject. The social sciences comprise the application of scientific methods to the study of the human aspects of the world. They are also known... social science (a novel position in France). From this position Durkheim reformed the French school system and introduced the study of social science in its curriculum. Again, his tendency to reduce morality and religion to mere social facts earned him his fair share of critics.

The 1890s were a period of remarkable creative output for Durkheim. In Events January 1 - Japan accepts the Gregorian calendar January 2 - Introduction by Webb C. Ball of the General Railroad Timepiece Standards in North America: Railroad chronometers January 13 - The UK has its first meeting. January 17 - American sugar planters overthrow the government of Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii February 1 - Thomas... 1893 he published The Division of Labor in Society, his fundamental statement of the nature of human society and its development. In 1895 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). Events January January 5 - Dreyfus Affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devils Island. February February 14 - First showing of Oscar Wildes last play The Importance of... 1895 he published Rules of the Sociological Method, a manifesto stating what sociology was and how it ought to be done, and founded the first European Department of Sociology at the University of Bordeaux. In 1896 he founded the journal L'Année Sociologique in order to publish and publicize the work of what was by then a growing number of students and collaborators (this is also the name used to refer to the group of students who developed his sociological program). And finally, in Events January 1 - Brooklyn, New York merges with New York City. January 4 - A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosheri, son-in-law of the Oba of Benin. This leads to a Punitive Expedition against Benin. February 2 - Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania state capitol, is destroyed by fire. February 18... 1897, he published Suicide, a case study which provided an example of what the sociological monograph might look like.

In Events January-April January 28 - The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, DC with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie. France, Loisys Lévangile et lEglise which inaugurates the Modernist Crisis February 11 - Police beat up universal suffrage demonstrators in Brussels. February 15 – Berlin underground opened... 1902 Durkheim finally achieved his goal of attaining a prominent position in Paris when he became the chair of education at the The Sorbonne, Paris, in a 17th century engraving The Sorbonne today, from the same point of view The historic University of Paris (French: Université de Paris) first appeared in the second half of the 12th century, but was in 1970 reorganized as 13 autonomous universities (University of Paris I–... Sorbonne. Because French universities are technically institutions for training secondary school teachers, this position gave Durkheim considerable influence - his lectures were the only ones that were mandatory for the entire student body. Despite what some considered, in the aftermath of the Alfred Dreyfus in an army uniform, wearing a mustache. The Dreyfus Affair was a political scandal which divided France for many years during the late 19th century. It centered on the 1894 treason conviction of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish artillery officer in the French army. Dreyfus was, in fact, innocent... Dreyfus affair, to be a political appointment, Durkheim consolidated his institutional power by 1912 when he was permanently assigned the chair and renamed it the chair of education and sociology. It was also in this year that he published his last major work, Elementary Forms of the Religious Life.

Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. Battle aftermath. Remains of the Chateau Wood World War I (also known as the First World War, the Great War, the War of the Nations, and the War to End All Wars) was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to... WWI was to have a tragic effect on Durkheim's life. Durkheim's leftism was always patriotic rather than internationalist - he sought a secular, rational form of French life. But the coming of the war and the inevitable nationalist propaganda that followed made it difficult to sustain this already nuanced position. While Durkheim actively worked to support his country in the war, his reluctance to give in to simplistic nationalist fervor (combined with his Jewish background) made him a natural target of the now-ascendant French right. Even more seriously, the generation of students that Durkheim had trained were now being drafted to serve in the army, and many of them perished as France was bled white in the trenches. Finally, Durkheim's own son died in the war - a mental blow from which Durkheim never recovered. Emotionally devastated and overworked, Durkheim collapsed of a stroke in 1917 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). Events January-February President Woodrow Wilson of the United States announces to Congress the breaking of diplomatic relations with Germany January 2 - The Royal Bank of Canada takes over Quebec Bank. January 22 - World War I: President Woodrow... 1917.

Theories and Ideas

Durkheim was concerned primarily with how societies could maintain their integrity and coherence in the modern era, when things such as shared religious and ethnic background could no longer be assumed. In order to study social life in modern societies, Durkheim sought to create one of the first For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal). Science is both a process of gaining knowledge, and the organized body of knowledge gained by this process. The scientific process is the systematic acquisition of new knowledge about a system. This systematic acquisition is generally the scientific method, and the... scientific approaches to social phenomena. Along with Herbert Spencer. Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 - 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher. He was born in Derby. Educated mostly at home, Spencer worked first as a railways civil engineer beginning at age 16, writing in his spare time. In 1848, Spencer became a sub-editor on The Economist... Herbert Spencer, was one of the first people to explain the existence and quality of different parts of a society by reference to what function they served in keeping the society healthy and balanced -- a position that would come to be known as The article is about functionalism in sociology; for other uses, see functionalism. This article includes a treatment of structural functionalism, quite different from the linguistics-based structuralism of other (generally later) anthropologists like Claude Lévi-Strauss In the social sciences specifically sociology and sociocultural anthropology, functionalism also functional analysis... functionalism.

Durkheim also insisted that society was more than the sum of its parts. Thus unlike his contemporary Maximilian Weber (April 21, 1864 – June 14, 1920) was a German political economist and sociologist who is considered the founder of the modern study of sociology and public administration. His major works deal with sociology of religion and government, but he also wrote much in the field of economics... Max Weber, he focused not on what motivates the actions of individual people ( Methodological individualism is a philosophical orientation toward explaining broad society-wide developments as the accumulation of decisions by individuals. In the writings of Thomas Carlyle, for example, human history is seen as a collection of the biographies of heroes, see philosophy of history. More broadly, methodological individualism is opposed to... methodological individualism), but rather on the study of In positivist sociology, a social fact is an abstraction external to the individual which constrains that individuals actions. Law is an example, the suicide rate in a given community another. Thus a social fact is an external constraint, such as a norm or institution, within the collective consience or... social facts, a term which he coined to describe phenomena which have an existence in and of themselves and are not bound to the actions of individuals. He argued that social facts had an independent existence greater and more objective than the actions of the individuals that composed society and could only be explained by other social facts rather than, say, by society's adaptation to a particular climate or ecological niche.

In his Events January 1 - Japan accepts the Gregorian calendar January 2 - Introduction by Webb C. Ball of the General Railroad Timepiece Standards in North America: Railroad chronometers January 13 - The UK has its first meeting. January 17 - American sugar planters overthrow the government of Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii February 1 - Thomas... 1893 work The Division of Labor in Society, Durkheim examined how social order was maintained in different types of societies. He focused on the Division of labour is the breakdown of labour into specific, circumscribed tasks for maximum efficiency of output in the context of manufacturing. It is the cardinal aspect of production. It can also be the fragmenting or reduction of human activity into separated toil that is the practical root of alienation... division of labor, and examined how it differed in traditional societies and Modern can simply mean something that is up-to-date, trendy, new, or from the present time. It can also refer to the modern age, a very loosely defined time period which generally commences at or some time after the Renaissance in Europe. See also 20th century classical music Modernist... modern societies. Authors before him such as Herbert Spencer. Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 - 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher. He was born in Derby. Educated mostly at home, Spencer worked first as a railways civil engineer beginning at age 16, writing in his spare time. In 1848, Spencer became a sub-editor on The Economist... Herbert Spencer and Ferdinand Tönnies (July 26, 1855, near Oldenswort (Eiderstedt) - April 9, 1936, Kiel, Germany) was a German sociologist. He was a major contributor to sociological theory and field studies, as well as bringing Thomas Hobbes back on the agenda, by publishing his manuscripts. His distinction between two types of social... Ferdinand Toennies had argued that societies evolved much like organisms, moving from a simple state to a more complex one resembling the workings of complex machines. Durkheim reversed this formula. He argued that traditional societies were 'mechanical' and were held together by the fact that everyone was more or less the same, and hence had things in common. In traditional societies, argues Durkheim, the The French social theorist Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) used the term collective consciousness in his The Rules of Sociological Method (1895), Suicide (1897), and The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912). Various forms has been identified by other sociologists, going from solidarity attitudes and memes to extreme behaviors like groupthink... collective consciousness entirely subsumes individual consciousness--norms are strong and behavior is well-regulated.

In modern societies, he argued, the highly complex division of labor resulted in 'organic' solidarity. Different specializations in employment and social roles created dependencies that tied people to one another, since people no longer could count on filling all of their needs by themselves. In 'mechanical' societies, for example, subsistence farmers live in communities which are self-sufficient and knit together by a common heritage and common job. In modern 'organic' societies, workers earn money, and must rely on other people who specialize in certain products (groceries, clothing, etc.) to meet their needs. The result of increasing division of labor, according to Durkheim, is that individual consciousness emerges distinct from collective consciousness--often finding itself in conflict with collective consciousness. The rapid change in society due to increasing division of labor thus produces a state of confusion with regard to norms and increasing impersonality in social life, leading eventually to the breakdown of In sociology, a norm, or social norm, is a pattern of behavior expected within a particular society in a given situation. The shared belief of what is normal and acceptable shapes and enforces the actions of people in a society. Those who do not follow their social norms are considered... social norms regulating behavior; Durkheim labels this state Anomie, in contemporary English means the absence of any kind of rule, law, principle or order. It comes from the Greek an-: against or absence, and nomos: law). This term was used by the Greeks to define anything or anyone who was against the rules or a condition where the... anomie. From a state of anomie come all forms of Deviant behavior is behavior that is a recognized violation of cultural norms. Formal and informal social controls attempt to prevent and minimize deviance. One such control is through the medicalization of deviance. Crime, the violation of formally enacted law, is formal deviance while an informal social violation such as picking... deviant behavior, most notably Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of intentionally ending ones own life. Attitudes vary on suicide from culture to culture. It is considered a sin in many religions, and a crime in some jurisdictions. On the other hand, some cultures have viewed it as... suicide.

Durkheim developed the concept of anomie later in Suicide, published in Events January 1 - Brooklyn, New York merges with New York City. January 4 - A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosheri, son-in-law of the Oba of Benin. This leads to a Punitive Expedition against Benin. February 2 - Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania state capitol, is destroyed by fire. February 18... 1897. In it, he explores the differing suicide rates among Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. It generally refers to those that separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the Reformation of the 16th century, their offshoots, and those that share similar doctrines or ideologies. It is commonly considered one of the three major branches of Christianity... Protestants and Catholic means universal or whole. Early Christians used the term to refer to the whole undivided Church. Accordingly, all Christians lay claim to the term, including Protestants, who often do not capitalize it. The Church fathers and the historic creeds used it to distinguish the mainstream body of orthodox Christian... Catholics, explaining that stronger social control among Catholics results in lower suicide rates. According to Durkheim, people have a certain level of attachment to their groups, which he calls social integration. Abnormally high or low levels of social integration may result in increased suicide rates; low levels have this effect because low social integration results in disorganized society, causing people to turn to suicide as a last resort, while high levels cause people to kill themselves to avoid becoming burdens on society. According to Durkheim, Catholic society has normal levels of integration while Protestant society has low levels. This work has influenced proponents of The control theory is a set of psychological stages in which each stage states a crisis that must be accomplished. Opposing to Erik Eriksons theory, Emile Durkheim suggested this theory to be followed by the age groups and gender rather than social entities. The age groups are pertaining from... control theory, and is often mentioned as a classic sociological study.

Durkheim was also very interested in education. Partially this was because he was professionally employed to train teachers, and he used his ability to shape curriculum to further his own goals of having sociology taught as widely possible. More broadly, though, Durkheim was interested in the way that education could be used to provide French citizens the sort of shared, secular background that would be necessary to prevent anomie in modern societies. It was to this end that he also proposed the formation of professional groups to serve as a source of solidarity for adults.

Finally, Durkheim is remembered for his work on 'primitive' (i.e. non-Western) people in books such as his 1912 is a leap year starting on Monday. Events January-March January 1 - Establishment of Republic of China. January 6 - New Mexico is admitted as the 47th U.S. state. January 17 - British polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott and a team of four begin the second expedition to reach the... 1912 volume Elementary Forms of the Religious Life and the essay Primitive Classification that he wrote with Marcel Mauss (1872-1950) was a French sociologist best known for his role in elaborating on and securing the legacy of his uncle, Emile Durkheim and the Annee Sociologique. His most famous work is The Gift, on reciprocity and gift economies among uncivilised peoples. Background Mauss was born in Epinal... Marcel Mauss. These works examine the role that religion and mythology have in shaping the worldview and personality of people in extremely (to use Durkheim's phrase) 'mechanical' societies.

Durkeim argued that education has many functions:

1) To reinforce social solidarity

• History: Learning about individuals who have done good things for the many makes an individual feel insignificant.
• Pledging Allegiance: Makes individuals feel part of a group and therefore less likely to break rules.

2) To maintain social roles

• School is a society in miniature. It has a similar hierarchy, rules, expectations to the "outside world". It trains young people to fulfill roles.

3) To maintain division of labour.

• Sorts students out into skill groups. Teaches students to go into work depending on what they're good at.

Literature

• Steven Lukes: Emile Durkheim: His Life and Work, a Historical and Critical Study. Stanford University Press, 1985.

See also

• Albion Woodbury Small (May 11, 1854 - 1926) founded the first Department of Sociology in the USA at the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois in 1892. He was influential on the establishment of sociology as an valid field of academic study. Small was the son of Albion K. Parris and... Albion W. Small
• Florian Witold Znaniecki (January 15, 1882 - March 23, 1958) was a philosopher and sociologist. He taught and wrote in Poland and United States. 44th President of the American Sociological Association. Founder of academic sociology studies in Poland. His theoretical and methodological work contributed to the development of the sociology as... Florian Znaniecki
• The color red and particularly the red flag are traditional symbols of Socialism. Socialism is a concept, an ideology and a collection of party-based political movements that have evolved and branched over time. Initially, it was based on the organized working class, with the purpose of building a classless... Socialism
• Gabriel Tarde (1843 - 1904) French sociologist and social psychologist who conceived sociology as based on small psychological interactions among individuals (much as if it were chemistry), the fundamental forces being imitation and innovation. Among the concepts that Tarde initiated were the group mind (taken up and developed by Gustav Le... Gabriel Tarde

External links

• The Durkheim Pages (http://www.relst.uiuc.edu/durkheim)
• Useful information about Durkheim (http://www.hewett.norfolk.sch.uk/curric/soc/durkheim/durk.htm)