Émile Durkheim (jan 1, 1858 – jan 1, 1917)

Description:

Major Works:
"Division of Labor in Society" (1893)
"The Rules of the Sociological Method" (1895)
"The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life" (1912)

Major Concepts:
- Functionalism: the idea of looking at society as a system where all parts work to keep the whole going
- Mechanic vs Organic Solidarity: "primitive" or traditional societies--with less diversification and little division of labor--held together through mechanical solidarity due to their similarities (like machines); "civilized" or modern societies held together through organic solidarity due to their differences and specializations (like biological cells)
- Sacred & Profane: sacred (pure, powerful, and supernatural), and profane (routine, mundane, impure, and "of the world")
- Social Facts: to refer to things that have an existence of their own and are outside the domain of the individual control or individual action
- Anomie: chaos in a society due to the breakdown of social norms that were supposed to regulate human behavior

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