The Division of Labor in Society

Durkheim, Emile

1984 The Division of Labor in Society. New York: The Free Press.

In another paper I wrote about hunter-gatherers this semester, I used Emile Durkheim’s The Division of Labor. In this book Durkheim states that the most primitive societies are such, because they are, “devoid of …all organization” (Durkheim 1893: 141). This lack of organization also refers to a lack of hierarchy, as seen in Durkheim’s examples of the Iroquois who do not have power differentiation between sexes nor within the chief-tribesman relationship (Durkheim 1893: 141). Durkheim explains social evolution as a process in which societies progress from those which are unorganized, spread out geographically and held together by a collective unconscious, referred to as mechanical solidarity, to societies which are condensed in towns and practice division of labor. This close proximity in location and focus on occupation creates a stronger social web that no longer has such a need for the collective unconscious, referred to as organic solidarity, this is how derived societies are structured (Durkheim 1893: 143,151,152). This article is obviously greatly impacted by Lewis Morgan’s article Ethnical Periods, in which he discusses the social evolution from savagery to civilization. However, Morgan simply explains societal evolution, whereas Durkheim’s focus is the source of this evolution. Although the two are differentiated in context, they hold the same progressive ideals

Several times Durkheim compares society to an organism, almost identical to the comparisons done by Herbert Spencer. He claims that social organization is, “co-ordinate and subordinated one to another around the same central organ which exercises a moderating action over the rest of the organism” (Durkheim 1893: 143). However later, Durkheim denounces Spencer by stating that, “the…philosophy of Spencer is of such moral poverty that it now has hardly any supporters” (Durkheim 1893: 147).

Much of my interest in Durkheim comes from my personal interest in equality. My personal belief is that the most basic foundation to equality is the ability for every individual in a group to acquire the necessary resources for survival, this has also been referred to as functional redundancy; Durkheim’s term mechanical solidarity mirrors functional redundancy. He explains that most ‘primitive’ groups are characterized by a decentralized power. However, when the centralization of power does occur, it is due to the division of labor. Durkheim describes a system of specialization as having organic solidarity (Durkheim 1984: 130-32). Division of labor, or specialization, is the factor which separates the individual from their independent ability to survival.

I strongly disagree with Durkheim that hunter-gatherers lack any organization. Furthermore, I do not adhere to the social evolution theory that Durkheim does. However, I do find value in his research of mechanical solidarity in regards to hunter-gatherers.