Durkheim’s contributions to Cultural Studies. A look from the social sciences

Abstract

Émile Durkheim, a leading sociologist of the French Third Republic, did not limit himself to scientific production, but was actively engaged in the political and social problems of his time. Durkheim developed a «science of morality» and of political and social institutions, emphasizing the relationship between morality, the individual and society. According to Durkheim, the individual is born of society, and not the other way around, implying that social facts coerce and determine the lives of individuals from outside. The human body, although recognized as dual (biological and social), is considered less relevant than the social facts that condition it. Durkheim argued that society imposes norms and regulates the behavior of individuals, who are born into an already established system that coerces them. For him, society is a specific reality that surpasses the sum of individuals and has an existence independent of them. This is reflected in his analysis of the division of labor, where social morality and the restrictions imposed by society are essential to avoid destructive tendencies in the individual. In addition, Durkheim emphasized the role of the state, derived from society, in maintaining national cohesion. According to him, the function of government is to protect citizens and to lead society to its proper end, always respecting freedom of thought. He criticized both the socialist theory, which subordinates the individual to the state, and the liberal theory, which considers society as an abstraction. For Durkheim, authority must be based on a rational belief in it on the part of the citizens, without which the nation would fall into chaos