Durkheim, like the other sociologists we will
be studying in this course, is a materialist
whose prime causal factors are population
pressures and the division of labor.
The fact that Durkheim roots his analysis
in material conditions is often overlooked.
While his theories are often focused on the
influence of social structure on behavior
and ideas, he roots changes in that structure
on material foundations.
Emile Durkheim had a conception of human nature
that I believe has much merit.
He considered humans to be "homo duplex,"
that is, of two minds.
The first, which he called "will," was the
id-like nature that each individual is born
with.
Centered on bodily needs and drives, it pushes
the individual to act in ways to satisfy their
needs, wants, and desires without consideration
of the needs and desires of others.
The unchecked will can be seen in the infant,
who wants what she wants, centered on her
bodily needs and desires.
Left unchecked (or weakly checked) through
a lifetime, the will leads to individuals
using one another in their quest to satisfy
the self; their desires are unlimited, and
the constant seeking to slake these desires
leads to unhappiness and despair.
The 
other part of human nature is social in origin
which Durkheim calls the "collective conscience."
This collective conscience serves as a check
on the will, a moral system made up of ethical
codes, values, ideologies, and ideas.
The collective conscience is formed through
the socialization process by which the individual
internalizes the codes, norms, and ethical
values of the society.
It is the collective conscience that disciplines
the individual will, limits the potentially
unlimited desires and drives of the individual.
However, according to Durkheim, the collective
conscience cannot be instilled in the individual
through rational means.
True internalization of moral restraint can
only be instilled through ties of love and
affection to the group, that is, through social
bonds.
Without these close primary-group bonds the
individual fails to fully internalize the
moral codes of the society and the will is
left unchecked.
Lacking full integration into the norms and
values of the group, the individual will is
left free to engage in exploitive behavior
to satisfy its desires at the expense of others.
There is always a tension between our human
appetites and our socially instilled moral
life.
In societies in which the collective conscience
is weak---that is in which there is a failure
to fully integrate many individuals---exploitive
behavior becomes more common.
In societies where integration is exceedingly
strong, our human senses and desires are constantly
being denied.
Durkheim posited an evolutionary view of the
collective conscience.
He believed that simpler societies based on
kinship and community ties and a basic division
of labor based on age and sex were strongly
integrated, thus the collective conscience
was an unquestioned and overwhelming part
of individual consciousness.
You will recall that Mechanical solidarity
is "solidarity that comes from likeness,"
Durkheim (1893/1997) writes, and "is at its
maximum when the collective conscience completely
envelops our whole conscience and coincides
in all points with it."
Such societies are relatively homogenous,
men and women engage in similar tasks, rituals,
and daily activities, all have similar experiences
and thus attitudes and beliefs.
The few distinct institutions in such societies
embody the same norms and values and tend
to reinforce one another.
Rules and norms are universal, beyond the
pale of discussion or question, and are followed
absolutely.
The collective conscience is so overpowering
that there is little opportunity or will for
individuality or deviance (228-229).
Durkheim believed that the increasing division
of labor served to weaken the collective conscience.
Specifically, the division of labor weakens
those traditional institutions such as church,
family, and community that serve to integrate
the individual into the broader values of
the group.
An increasing division of labor weakens the
social bond of the wider community and thus
the integration of the individual into the
moral universe of the society needed for truly
social behavior.
This leads to high rates of deviance, exploitation,
and social disintegration.
But the internalized beliefs and values of
the society---the collective conscience---restrains
the will.
As a society becomes more complex, individuals
play more specialized roles and become ever
more dissimilar in their social experiences,
material interests, values and beliefs.
"Anomie" is the term coined by Durkheim to
characterize a social structure that only
weakly binds and individual into the social
whole.
Highly anomic societies are characterized
by weak primary group ties---family, church,
community, and other such groups.
Durkheim is not a straight-line evolutionary
theorist, however.
He believed that the weakening of primary
groups was of such harm to the individual
and to the social order that it would necessitate
the emergence of new primary groups that would
serve to bind the individual to the social
whole.
Another possibility, seemingly unconsidered
by Durkheim, is that the processes undermining
the collective conscience would continue unchecked.
If you are interested in the big picture you
should take a look at Macro Social Theory,
a book that reviews the theories of classical
macro social theorists such as Karl Marx,
Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim as well as the
work of many who extended their theories to
better reflect modern times such as Norbert
Elias, Gerhard Lenski, and John Bellamy Foster.
This book can be found exclusively at Amazon.com
at a reasonable price.
Also see Sociocultural Systems: Principles
of Structure and Change to learn how these
insights contribute to a fuller understanding
of modern societies.
Sociocultural Systems can be purchased at
most online bookstores or at Athabasca University
Press.
If you are short of funds Athabasca also offers
a free pdf version of the work.
A significant portion of the royalties I receive
for these books go to the Rogers State University
Foundation in support of students in the Liberal
Arts.
I thank you for your support and interest.
