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Emile Durkheim: Societies
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Emile Durkheim was a French sociologist in the mid- to late 1800's, whose influence extends to the discipline of anthropology as well. It was the nature of his work to study not only social issues of the day, but to gather and work with cross- cultural (ethnographic) data as well, toward a broad science of human society.
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Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist, introduced the concept of anomie in his book The Division of Labor in Society, published in 1893. He used anomie to describe a condition of deregulation that was occuring in society. This meant that rules on how people ought to behave with each other were breaking down and ... people did not know what to expect from one another. Anomie, simply defined, is a state where norms (expectations on behaviors) are confused, unclear or not present. It is normlessness, Durkheim felt, that led to deviant behavior. In 1897, Durkheim used the term again in his study on Suicide, referring to a morally deregulated condition.
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Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) founded the French school of sociology. In 1893 he created the Annee Sociologique, which he edited until 1913, and he wrote seminal texts including The Division of Labor in Society, Suicide, and The Rules of Sociological Method.
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Emile Durkheim is credited with founding modern sociology and he ... had a tremendous influence on anthropology. His central concern was the question of social cohesion. A society is composed of various kinds of segments, such as different kin groups, classes, and political and religious units. Still, these separate units stay together and are structured to become one coherent society. What is it that binds these different segments? In short, Durkheim wished to understand what elements held a society.
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Along with Max Weber, Emile Durkheim is regarded as one of the most important founders of the modern field of sociology. One of his most significant contributions is his development of the term and concept of "social facts," what Durkheim believed should be the primary focus of the scientific study of society. Durkheim described "social facts" as:
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Durkheim proposes to study totemic religion among Australian tribes because it is a very simple society and it will therefore exhibit the original form of religion. The clan that worships the totem is of central significance: the clan is a bond of kinship united by name (not biology), and the totem of the clan is ... the totem of the clan members. Another clan has another totem. Totems can be animals, vegetables and even ancestors.Clans are united by bonds of fraternity in phratries; these phratries also have a totem, and they relate to the different totems of the clans in a relation of subordination. Clan totems enjoy special status: some persons may not touch the totem, it is kept in a special place, it gives men special powers, and its loss is a disaster. Other things can be scared because they are in some way related to the totem.
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