David Emile Durkheim's Division Of Labor In Society

I have rented a home with 7 of my friends since the beginning of our sophomore year, and I am still shocked by the number of rules that have been put in place, just to keep order in our home. With 8 men living in a home it can get very messy, very quickly, and for that reason we have jobs that are randomly assigned on our cleaning day to keep the house clean; it was not until this class that I thought about the division of labor and the different contracts that have been written up to keep our little society within our home running. David Emile Durkheim's Division of Labor in Society, discusses how the division of labor can lead to a sense of solidarity in society. He believes that if you are good at something, you should stick to it because …show more content…
A mechanical solidarity is characterized by repressive sanctions, which means the person who broke the rule will be punished. Now that we have lived in this home together for a year, we have seen the shortcomings of some of the contracts that had been put into place and now more of an organic solidarity can be seen in our home. Karl Marx's stance on the division of labor in his Communist Manifesto discusses the social inequalities between social groups because the division of labor places you in a certain socioeconomic class. Marx believes that people only work out of a necessity, necessity for food, for money, for anything and because they are only working out of necessity, people grow more and more resentful of their jobs. Both Durkheim and Marx believe that a division of labor is necessary, but there is no need to resent your job as Marx suggests, and although money may be a factor taken into account when finding jobs, there can still be people in a lower socioeconomic class that are happy with what they …show more content…
I was not aware that we would have to create the most dysfunctional democracy I have ever seen, and then repair it from there. Durkheim's theory of the division of labor focuses around individuals doing what they are good at, and in turn, mastering that craft. This works in a rural society, but as a society progresses and increases in size, the necessity of a division of labor focused around keeping society functioning proves to be more important than making sure you "love your job" as Durkheim believes you should, but as society progresses, a conscience collective is necessary for society to function. Marx's theory focuses more around the fact that individuals are focused around their social class and material possessions rather than the conscience collective. Alienation from the division of labor can take place but allowing that to happen is not how a conscience collective would work out the division of labor. Durkheim's focus around improving people's skills and creating a sense of solidarity versus Marx's focus around doing what you have to since their social class above you will never let you move up into their socioeconomic class. Although alienation may not be the correct way to describe Marx's theory, the resentment that individuals feel towards a particular task is very possible but loving your job as Durkheim says is also