Emile Durkheim’s Division of Labor

The division of labor was a material social fact to Durkheim, because it is the pattern of interaction in the social world. He focused on the division of labor and examined how it differed in tradition societies and modern societies. It involves the degree to which task or responsibilities. People in primitive societies tend to occupy very general position in which they perform a wide variety of task and handle a large number of responsibilities. Those who live in more modern societies occupied more specialized position and have a much narrower range of task and responsibilities.

The change in the division of labor had enormous implication for the structure of society and some of the more important implication is reflected in the difference between two types of solidarity- Mechanical Solidarity and Organic Solidarity.

Social solidarity was developed in his first book “The division of labor in society”. Durkheim’s theory of solidarity is the collective conscience which is the sum total of beliefs and sentiments common to the average members of society and forming a system in its own rights.

Durkheim identified two forms of solidarity 

1. Society based on mechanical solidarity.
2. Society based on organic solidarity.

Mechanical Solidarity 

Mechanical solidarity is solidarity of resemblance. The major characteristics of a society is that individuals from one another as little as possible. The individuals, the members of the same collective resemble each other because they feel the same values and hold the same thing sacred. The society is coherent because the individuals are not yet differentiated. 

A society characterized by mechanical solidarity is unified because all people are generalists. The bond among people is that they are all engaged in similar activities and have similar responsibility for example; primitive society is based on mechanical solidarity. Durkheim emphasized the following points

1. Differentiation of the ‘society based on solidarity that is an elementary stage. It is mainly based on age and sex.
2. It has simple division of function.
3. All the members are alike.
4. The members have a kin sense of collective conscious and obedience.
5. It has repressive basis.

Organic Solidarity

Organic solidarity is one in which consensus or the coherent unity or collectivity results from or is expressed by differentiation. The individuals are no longer similar but different and in a curtain sense.

The part of living organism do not resemble each other, the organs a living creature each performs a function and it is precisely because each organ has its own function, because that heart and the lungs are altogether different from the brain that they are equally indispensable to life. 

Organic solidarity has some characteristics. This are---

1. The complex process of differentiation. 
2. Increase interdependence among the individuals and the various parts of the society.
3. Increase in division of labor and development of various trade and profession.
4. Civic and reestablishing restitutive laws.

Causes of Division of Labor

Durkheim though the division of labor was a material social fact which has two main causes

1. Increase in density of population.
2. Increase in moral density of population.

This concept refers to the number of people in a society and the amount of interaction that occurs among them. An increase in number of people and an increase in the interaction among them led to the change from mechanical to organic solidarity.

Social Factors of Division of Labor

Durkheim insists that division of labor, a social phenomenon, can be explained in terms of three social factors.

1. Volume: The volume of the society refers to the size of the population.
2. Material Density: material density refers to the number of the individuals on a given ground surface.
3. The Moral Density of the Society: Moral density means the intensity of communication between individuals.

Aspects of Division of Labor

Durkheim claimed about two aspect of division of labor

A. Demographic: Demography is related to population diversification.

B. Moral: It is more internal process of human being.

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 produce a state of constitution with regard to norms and increasing impersonal in social life, leading to relative normlessness.

Criticism

•  Different social thinkers think that the thought as pathological local thought.
• Other thought that it is conservative.
• Some Marxian theorists thought that the theory is against Marxists theory.