Theory: Assignment for Paper 2

Below is the assignment for the second paper in Classical Social Theory. Please note: the due date has been changed from Friday, 24 March to Tuesday, 28 March. So there will be a bit of extra time. Please feel free to come to office hours or contact me otherwise with any questions, or for advice on the paper.

PAPER #2: DURKHEIM

Choose ONE of the following questions and compose a brief (4-5 pages) essay in response. Papers will be evaluated on the basis of the style, structure and reasoning brought to the argument.

Proper citation of sources is REQUIRED. The accepted format for citation of sources is the ASA format. The ASA Style Guide has been distributed to you and is also available online at:

http://www.calstatela.edu/library/bi/rsalina/asa.styleguide.html

Papers are due TUESDAY, 28 MARCH in class. Late papers will be refused.

1. In The Division of Labor in Society, Durkheim argues that “organic solidarity” societies may appear to integrate individuals more weakly than “mechanical solidarity” societies, but that the dependence of the individual on the collective is, in fact, stronger. What is the basis for this argument? Given the social problems on which Durkheim concentrates most strongly (the breakdown of collective consciousness and the rise of anomie), is it possible to say that “organic solidarity” exists at all?

2. For Marx, religion, law and collective beliefs are secondary phenomena derived from economic relations. For Durkheim, they are the central, original organizing social facts. What is the importance of this disagreement in terms of developing an understanding of society? Are there any particular facts which Marx’s or Durkheim’s model is better suited to explain?

3. In The Rules of Sociological Method (W.D. Halls trans., Glencoe: Free Press, p. 82) Durkheim asserts: “In principle it may be postulated that social facts are more likely to be objectively represented the more completely they are detached from the individual facts by which they are manifested.” Why would this be the case? How does he illustrate this principle in his study of suicide?

4. In “Estranged Labour,” Marx argues that the main problem with modern societies is that individuals suffer from being subject to too much power by an economic system that makes them unfree. In Suicide, Durkheim argues that modern societies regulate individuals too weakly, leaving them isolated, anomic, and lost. Society cannot be simultaneously too strong and too weak – which one of them is right?

Today in class we will discuss Durkheim's sociology of religion, and we will have a general overview of Durkheim on Friday. Then we move on to Max Weber!