SOCIOLOGY

08-02-2021

SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF LAW:

LAW AND SOCIAL SOLIDARITY: EMILE DURKHEIM

1) THEORY OF DIVISION OF LABOUR

2) THEORY OF SOCIAL FACT

Theory of Social Fact –

1. (observer) - a social fact is a phase of behavior i.e., thinking, feeling or acting which is subjective to the
observer and which has coercive nature.
2. (presenter/performer) - Social fact represents the category of fact with distinctive characteristics
consisting of ways of acting, thinking and feeling, external to the individual and endowed with the
power of coercion by means of which they control him.

Militant and industrial society: firstly, proposed by Herbert spencer (England sociologist)

MILITANT SOCIETY INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

All individual live for the state or the state is the The state exists for the individual’s welfare.
supreme entity which is controlling the property,
liberty, freedom of speech and etc. The state has the moral and legal obligation to
carry out all kind of necessary welfare measures
Individual exist for the state and the state has all for the citizen
the rights over them with respect to the property,
liberty, freedom of speech and etc.

All organizations are public and there is no scope Has both public and private organization side by
of private organization because the state owns side
everything.
Every administration is based on centralized Also, the state exists and the highest deciding
structure of the state. factor, yet the idea is to decentralize the
governance
Fixity or allotment of occupation, rank, Open social mobility, occupation, rank, locality,
locality/mobility and inheritance monitored by the movement and possession
state
The society and economy are controlled by the The state does not have economic autonomy
state and the state always follows the policy of completely, it allows the citizen to have free and
protectionism peaceful trade and a lot of interdependence
encouraging.
Patriotism, reverence and faith are at most interdependence between the people, respect for
authority at discipline, you cannot at any cause others and resistance to cohesion.
speak against the state.
Collectivism is appreciated Individualism is appreciated and valued
Repressive law: - Restitutive law: -
If someone deviates and try to question the Reformation is ingrained
authority or the state, he or she will be given the Compensate the laws.
harshest punishment possible. Analyzes the origin of the crime.
Ex. Mao Zedong’s period in China
Taliban period in Afghanistan.
Emile Durkheim’s analysis:

He says that if we kind of read through the history, probably the same country we are into would
have covered militant society pattern at some point of time and today we are become industrial society or we
should see that still there are countries into militant society and we are into industrial society pattern. He
doesn’t give any value judgement but he says from the 17 th and 18th CE onwards, people raise their voice for
rights of individual and individualism became a social movement after Dreyfus affair.

09-02-2021

Division of labor in society – 1893 – Emile Durkheim

Emile Durkheim, who defined social fact which is a social phenomenon and he tried to understand, what kind
of solidarity exist between people in different societies. He started understanding the entire society through
the works of Herbert spencer.

TYPES OF SOLIDARITY:

 Primitive solidarity
 Organic solidarity

PRIMITIVE SOCIETY: (simple, numerically less, territorially well-defined and are not evolved into a nation state)

1. Similarity of consciousness.
2. Mechanical solidarity which means there is a collective consciousness.
3. The society works always on the principles of similarity and homogeneity. (key feature)
4. Mechanical solidarity.

ORGANIC SOCIETY:

1. Solidarity of differences, Solidarity – togetherness (we agree to be as a member of a society)

2. Strict division of labor
3. Extensive specialization.
4. Industrial solidarity

MECHANICAL SOLIDARITY ORGANIC SOLIDARITY

It is a very simple society and mostly preliterate in The industrial societies of today which are quite
nature. complex and aims at literacy in education
There is a high level of similarity when it comes to Diversity is too much that people generally are free
moral and social obligations. (obligation towards to choose whether perform it or not. social
kinship) obligations are not compulsory
Conformity to tradition – non conformity is taken It is a tradition less society
very seriously
Individual differences and variations are restricted Individual differences and variations can be
pronounced.
Most property was commonly owned in a It is very clear that this piece of land is owned by an
mechanical solidarity (every piece of land is attached individual
to a family and not to an individual)
Religion is a form of cult and daily ritual. Due to variety of occupation, religion became
formally institutionalized way of worship (visiting to
religious place has now come up with a timetable.)
Ex. Tirupati
Individual conduct is always controlled by free to express your individual thought and conduct
community opinion. which the community does not control
Kind of kinship network was widely extended and The kinship network is not very wide and not strong.
very strong in nature (breaking marriage issue is solved)
(breaking marriage was not encouraged)
Interpersonal relationship is based on loyalty, trust It is based on contract.
and integrity and are valued as one of the highest
virtues.
 There is always a sacred orientation of life. It is areligious society. Worldly orientation
Gave importance to sentiment, beliefs and feelings It is more on the basis of not having sentiments and
of people. not giving place for sentiment and feelings rather
mostly driven by orientation to rationalism and so
on.
Repressive laws Restitutive laws

According to Durkheim, division of labor is very important and he says that he sees that in every society that
no society exist without the division of labor. He also says that the mechanical and organic society are
fundamentally different in all the 12 difference we discussed above.

From where do these terminologies come from is what we understand from Durkheim’s study of Dreyfus
affair.

10-02-2021

Four major social characters: -

1. Social facts have distinguished social characteristics and determinants which are not amenable to be
explained either through biological or psychological theories.
Ex. Marriage, kinship, customs.
2. Social facts are external to the individuals. Meaning the inputs that individual received for social facts are
based on their complex social relationships rather than individual imagination
3. Social facts endure through time outlasting any set of groups of individuals. Ex. Family customs, religious
customs.
4. Social facts are endowed with coercive power by which they impose themselves upon the individual
independent of his individual will.

Types of social fact:

1. Structure or morphological social fact

Ex. Western part of Europe – get together
Italy and Spain – weekend dinner together
2. Institutional fact – kotas tribe has never faced divorce
3. Non institutionalized facts – folkways, mores and customs.
4. Social currents – farmer protest
5. Pathological facts – corruption, prostitution, etc.

12-02-2021

Four major characteristics in evolution from which the military society proceeds to industrial society, given by
Herbert spencer:

MILITANT SOCIETY INDUSTRIAL/CAPITALIST SOCIETY

Compulsory cooperation – cohesive Voluntary cooperation – non conformist – atheist.

Centralized government – tribe’s king decides the Decentralized government – the authority can only
final decision suggest

Economic autonomy More Organized economic structure with less

autonomy

Domination of the state in all social organization –

limited mechanism of law

Emile Durkheim: division of labor

Could be used in three

1. Sense of technical division of labor as it describes the production process.

2. Sexual division of labor which talks about the social divisions between men and women.
3. Social division of labor which refers to various differentiation existing in the society as a home which is
what widely Durkheim has discussed with related to division of labor and social solidarity.

Based on these, Durkheim establishes the link between division of labor and social solidarity, the meaning of
social solidarity is to be understood in three ways,

1. Social solidarity is synonymous with social cohesion and social integration.

2. Social solidarity refers to the integration and degree or type of integration manifest by a society or a
group.
3. It refers to the condition within a group where there is social cohesion and the social processes such
as cooperation and competition and the collective action directed towards the achievement of group
goals.

Emile Durkheim combining division of labor and solidarity defines the mechanical solidarity as the
solidarity of resemblance based on homogeneous values, social constrains, loyalty to tradition and kinship
and the customary laws. The society here is coherent and is with the collective consciousness.

Durkheim further defines collective consciousness as the sum of total beliefs and sentiments common to
the average members of a particular society, he further states that this common consciousness completely
covers individual mentality and morality.

The mechanical solidarity is usually applied to small non literate societies which are characterized by a
simple division of labor and also with the absence of an elaborate bureaucracy.

Organic solidarity:

As defined by Durkheim, organic solidarity refers to a type of societal solidarity, typical of moral
industrial society in which unity is based or assumed to be based on the interdependence of a very large
number of highly specialized roles in a system involving a complex division of labor that requires cooperation
of almost all the social groups and individuals of the society. It is called organic because it is similar to the unity
of a biological organism in which all organs meet to work in coordination for the organism to survive.
According to Durkheim, with the increasing division of labor and specialization, the basic assumption is that
the modern industrial society achieves higher economic participation and outcome and development of values
of equality, liberty, fraternity and justice. Hence, the individual consciousness is of the supreme importance in
those societies which practices organic solidarity.