“… individualism [is] the fruit of historical development…” – Émile Durkheim, ‘The Division Of Labor In Society’
Today we share the thoughts of prominent French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) from his doctoral thesis, ‘The Division Of Labor In Society’. First published in 1893, this now famous work is known as one of the first classics of, if not the first classic of, the field of sociology.
Durkheim believed social solidarity was crucial for the stability and cohesion of society, and distinguished between “mechanical solidarity”, which is based on similarities and shared values in traditional societies, and “organic solidarity”, which arises from the interdependence of individuals in modern, complex societies. Durkheim also emphasized the importance of social facts, such as norms, values, and institutions, which are external to individuals but exert a coercive influence on their behavior and contribute to social order.
According to scholar Steven Lukas, “Durkheim’s ‘The Division Of Labor’… confronts a range of fundamental issues, methodological, substantive, and normative – old issues that Durkheim treated in a new way. The treatment is bold, systematic, and inspired by a distinctive vision.”
Quotes From ‘The Division Of Labor In Society’
Quotes are organized by topic and excerpted from the Simon & Schuster, Inc. ‘Free Press’ edition of ‘The Division Of Labor In Society’, published in 2014 and which features the 1984 translation by the Higher and Further Education Division of Macmillan Publishers, Ltd. and the 1984 introduction by Lewis Coser. In addition, the publication of this new edition of Durkheim’s work features a preface and introduction by Steven Lukes, from which a brief quote has been included above.
Groups
“Within the same group of workers a public opinion exists, diffused throughout this limited body, which, despite the lack of any legal sanctions, is nevertheless obeyed. There are customs and usages common to the same group of functionaries which none can infringe without incurring the reprimand of the corporation.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 7 – Organic Solidarity And Contractual Solidarity, Part 4
“… higher societies are the result of the coming together of lower societies of the same type… human societies consist increasingly of groups cooperating together…” – Book 2 – The Causes And Conditions, Chapter 2 – The Causes, Part 4
“… the pressure of opinion is felt with less force in large population venters. It is because the attention of each individual is distracted in too many different directions… wherever the density of the conurbation is proportional to its volume, personal ties are few and weak… Since this mutual indifference has the effect of relaxing the supervision of the collective, the range of freedom of individual action is enlarged de facto… As a result of this decrease in social control, acts are committed daily that infringe it, without, however, its reacting. If therefore some acts are repeated sufficiently frequently and consistently, they end up by enfeebling the collective sentiment that they offend… In short, for social control to be rigorous and for the common consciousness to be maintained, society must be split up into moderately small compartments that completely enclose the individual. By contract, both social control and the common consciousness grow weaker as such divisions fade.”- Book 2 – The Causes And Conditions, Chapter 3 – Secondary Factors: The Progressive Indeterminacy Of The Common Consciousness And Its Causes, Part 3
“Man is a moral being only because he lives in society, since morality consists in solidarity with the group, and varies according to that solidarity.” – Conclusion, Part 1
Social Capital
“He who speaks of obligation speaks at the same time of constraint.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 1 – The Method Of Determining This Function, Part I
“Everybody knows that we like what resembles us, those who think and feel as we do. But the opposite phenomenon is no less frequently encountered… Dissimilarity, just like resemblance, can be a cause of mutual attraction.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 1 – The Method Of Determining This Function, Part 2
“We are… led to consider the division of labor in a new light… indeed, the economic services that it can render are insignificant compared with the moral effect that it produces, and its true function is to create between two or more people a feeling of solidarity. However this result is accomplished, it is this that gives rise to these associations of friends and sets its mark upon them.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 1 – The Method Of Determining This Function, Part 2
“… social solidarity is a wholly moral phenomenon…” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 1 – The Method Of Determining This Function, Part 3
“The bond of social solidarity to which repressive law corresponds is one the breaking of which constitutes the crime. We use the term “crime” to designate any act which, regardless of degree, provokes against the perpetrator the characteristic reaction known as punishment.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 2 – Mechanical Solidarity, Or Solidarity By Similarities, Part 1
“The totality of beliefs and sentiments common to the average members of a society forms a determinate system with a life of its own. It can be termed the collective or common consciousness… it is always to the collective consciousness that we must return… there exists no moral force superior to that of the individual, save that of the collectivity.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 2 – Mechanical Solidarity, Or Solidarity By Similarities, Part 1
“… a social cohesion exists whose cause can be traced to a certain conformity of each individual consciousness to a common type, which is none other than the psychological type of society. Indeed under these conditions all members of the group are not only individually attracted to one another because they resemble one another, but also linked to what is the condition for the existence of this collective type, that is, to the society that they form by coming together. Not only do fellow citizens like one another, seeking one another out in preference to foreigners, but they love their country. They wish for it what they would wish for themselves; they care that it should be lasting and prosperous, because without it a whole area of their psychological life would fail to function smoothly.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 2 – Mechanical Solidarity, Or Solidarity By Similarities, Part 4
“The more varied the relationships on which that [common] consciousness makes its action felt, the more it also creates ties that bind the individual to the group…” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 2 – Mechanical Solidarity, Or Solidarity By Similarities, Part 4
“Two consciousnesses exist within us: the one comprises only states that are personal to each one of us, characteristic of us as individuals, whilst the other comprises states that are common to the whole of society. The former represents only our individual personality, which it constitutes: the latter represents the collective type and consequently the society without which it would not exist. When it is an element of the latter determining our behavior, we do not act with an eye to our own personal interest, but are pursuing collective ends… This gives rise to a solidarity… which, deriving from resemblances, binds the individual directly to society.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 2 – Mechanical Solidarity, Or Solidarity By Similarities, Part 4
“Men need peace only in so far as they are already united by some bond of sociability.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 3 – Solidarity Arising From The Division Of Labor, Or Organic Solidarity, Part 2
“… reciprocity is possible only where cooperation exists…” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 3 – Solidarity Arising From The Division Of Labor, Or Organic Solidarity, Part 3
“… the relationships that are regulated by cooperative law, with its restitutive sanctions, and the solidarity these relationships express, result from the social division of labor.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 3 – Solidarity Arising From The Division Of Labor, Or Organic Solidarity, Part 3
“As soon as we have taken the first step toward cooperation, we are committed and the regulatory action of society exerts itself upon us.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 7 – Organic Solidarity And Contractual Solidarity, Part 2
“Social life is derived from a dual source, the similarity of individual consciousness and the social division of labor. In the first case the individual is socialized because, lacking any individuality of his own, he is mixed up with his fellows in the same collective type. In the second case it is because, whilst his physiognomy and his activities are personal to him, distinguishing him from others, he depends upon them to the very extent that he is distinguished from them, and consequently upon the society that is the result of their combining together.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 7 – Organic Solidarity And Contractual Solidarity, Part 4
“… drawing together morally can bear fruit only if the real distance between individuals has itself diminished, in whatever manner.” – Book 2 – The Causes And Conditions, Chapter 2 – The Causes, Part 1
“Unstable by nature, any homogeneous mass necessarily becomes heterogeneous, whatever its dimensions.” – Book 2 – The Causes And Conditions, Chapter 2 – The Causes, Part 2
“… cooperation itself… is a social fact, subject to social rules… “ – Book 2 – The Causes And Conditions, Chapter 2 – The Causes, Part 4
“… moral life permeates all the relationships that go to make up cooperation, since it would not be possible if social sentiments, and consequently moral ones, did not preside over its elaboration.” – Book 2 – The Causes And Conditions, Chapter 2 – The Causes, Part 4
“… the common consciousness is formed only very slowly… Time is needed for a form of behavior or a belief to attain that degree of generality and crystallization… Thus it is almost entirely a product of the past… The authority of the collective consciousness is therefore made up in large part of the authority of tradition… common beliefs and practices draw their strength for the most part from the force of tradition… What constitutes the strength of tradition is the character of those who hand it on and inculcate it, that is, the older generation. They are its living expression… They are the unique mediator between the present and the past…” – Book 2 – The Causes And Conditions, Chapter 3 – Secondary Factors: The Progressive Indeterminacy Of The Common Consciousness And Its Causes, Part 2
“Men go forward because they must. What determines the speed of their advance is the more or less strong pressure they exert upon one another, depending upon their number. This is not to signify that civilization serves no purpose, but it is not the services that it renders that cause it to progress. It develops because it cannot but develop… But whilst it is an effect of necessary causes, civilization can become an end, a desirable object – in short, an ideal… Society is not… the secondary condition for progress, but the determining factor.” – Book 2 – The Causes And Conditions, Chapter 5 – Consequences Of The Foregoing, Part 2
“Man… is dependent on social causes.” – Book 2 – The Causes And Conditions, Chapter 5 – Consequences Of The Foregoing, Part 3
“If there is one rule of conduct whose moral character is undisputed, it is that which decrees that we should realize in ourselves the essential features of the collective type.” – Conclusion, Part 1
“Law and morality represent the totality of bonds that bind us to one another and to society, shaping the mass of individuals into a cohesive aggregate. We may say that what is moral is everything that is a source of solidarity, everything that forces man to take account of other people, to regulate his actions by something other than the promptings of his own egoism, and the more numerous and strong these ties are, the more solid is the morality.” – Conclusion, Part 1
“Cause all social life to vanish, and moral life would vanish at the same time, having no object to cling to.” – Conclusion, Part 1
Sovereignty
“… the greater malleability of purely moral laws and the relative swiftness with which they evolve demonstrates the lesser strength of the sentiments underlying them.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 2 – Mechanical Solidarity, Or Solidarity By Similarities, Part 1
“… the power to react, which is available to the functions of government, once these have emerged, is only an emanation of the power diffused throughout society, since it springs from it. The one power is no more than the reflection of the other; the extent of the one varies with the extent of the other. Moreover, we must add that the institution of this power serves to sustain the common consciousness itself.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 2 – Mechanical Solidarity, Or Solidarity By Similarities, Part 3
“The same is true of punishment… Its real function is to maintain inviolate the cohesion of society by sustaining the common consciousness in all its vigor. If that consciousness were thwarted so categorically, it would necessarily lose some of its power, were an emotional reaction from the community not forthcoming to make good that loss. Thus there would result a relaxation in the bonds of social solidarity. The consciousness must therefore be conspicuously reinforced the moment it meets with opposition. The sole means of doing so is to give voice to the unanimous aversion that the crime continues to evoke, and this by an official act, which can only mean suffering inflicted upon the wrongdoer. Thus, although a necessary outcome of the causes that give rise to it, this suffering is not a gratuitous act of cruelty. It is a sign indicating that the sentiments of the collectivity are still collective, that the communion of minds sharing the same faith remains absolute, and in this way the injury that the crime has inflicted upon society is made… Without this necessary act of satisfaction what is called the moral consciousness could not be preserved.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 2 – Mechanical Solidarity, Or Solidarity By Similarities, Part 4
“Repressive law corresponds to what is the heart and center of the common consciousness.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 3 – Solidarity Arising From The Division Of Labor, Or Organic Solidarity, Part 1
“… there is no society, whether present or past, which is not, or has not been, contractual, for there is not one that can continue to exist through constraint alone.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 7 – Organic Solidarity And Contractual Solidarity, Part 1
“To seek to realize a higher civilization than that demanded by the nature of the prevailing conditions is to desire to let sickness loose upon the society of which one forms a part. It is not possible to stimulate collective activity excessively, beyond the level determined by the state of the social organism, without compromising its health.” – Book 2 – The Causes And Conditions, Chapter 5 – Consequences Of The Foregoing, Part 2
Virtues
“The moral consciousness of nations… prefers a modicum of justice to all the industrial improvements in the world.“ – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 1 – The Method Of Determining This Function, Part I
“… justice is not administered free…” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 3 – Solidarity Arising From The Division Of Labor, Or Organic Solidarity, Part 1
“… justice alone is needful for the smooth functioning of social life… Justice is filled with charity…” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 3 – Solidarity Arising From The Division Of Labor, Or Organic Solidarity, Part 1
“… justice… is the necessary accompaniment to every kind of solidarity. It is necessarily encountered everywhere men live a life in common…” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 3 – Solidarity Arising From The Division Of Labor, Or Organic Solidarity, Part 2
“… altruism is destined to become not… a kind of pleasant ornament of our social life, but something that will always be its fundamental basis.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 7 – Organic Solidarity And Contractual Solidarity, Part 4
“Every society is a moral society… cooperation… has… intrinsic morality.” – Book 1 – The Function Of The Division Of Labor, Chapter 7 – Organic Solidarity And Contractual Solidarity, Part 4
“… what limits human happiness: it is the constitution of man itself…” – Book 2 – The Causes And Conditions, Chapter 1 – The Progress Of The Division Of Labor And Of Happiness, Part 1
“Every people has its moral code that is determined by the conditions under which it is living. Thus another morality cannot be inculcated, no matter how lofty it may be, without disorganizing it…” – Book 2 – The Causes And Conditions, Chapter 1 – The Progress Of The Division Of Labor And Of Happiness, Part 1
“To act morally is to do one’s duty…” – Book 2 – The Causes And Conditions, Chapter 1 – The Progress Of The Division Of Labor And Of Happiness, Part 1
“The task of the most advanced societies may… be said to be a mission for justice… Just as the ancient peoples had above all a common faith to live by, so do we have a need for justice.” – Book 3 – The Abnormal Forms, Chapter 2 – The Forced Division Of Labor, Part 2
Final Thoughts
Reading through these collected insights from The Division of Labor in Society, one is struck by how prescient Durkheim’s observations remain over 130 years after their initial publication. His central insight—that modern society‘s stability depends not on uniformity, but on interdependence—speaks directly to our contemporary challenges of balancing individualism with social cohesion.
Perhaps most compelling is Durkheim’s insistence that morality and social life are inseparable: “Man is a moral being only because he lives in society” and that advanced societies have “above all… a need for justice.”
In an era of virtual realities, how can we live together in ways that honor our individuality, but that also connect us through reciprocity, develop trust, and encourage cooperation? That’s the trillion-dollar question still to be answered!
Thanks for reading!