Durkheim: Division of Labor Today,

Durkheim: Division of Labor

Today, the division of labor is commonplace. It is taken for granted that individuals have different roles and responsibilities at work and get paid varying salaries based on factors such as the type of organization, experience and background of the employee, and state of the economy and the company's fiscal situation. For Emil Durkheim, the first sociologist, the study of the division of labor was a new scholarly pursuit. He was especially interested in the impact that this specialization had on the individuals involved and how it led to problems such as anomie.

Briefly, the division of labor is the separation and specialization of work among individuals. Durkheim theorized two societal levels: Societies evolved from a simple, so-called "mechanical" nonspecialized form to a very complex and specialized one, or so- called "organic." In the former society, individuals act and think alike and perform similar work tasks and share community-oriented goals. People were at the same level, and the homogeneous society was kept together through a collective consciousness. When societies become less mechanical and more organic, work becomes more complex and specialized, and people lose their interconnection with one another. The heterogeneous society makes the individual have greater dependency on social relationships. The previous collective conscience disappears and the interdependence of individuals creates social bonds. Durkheim was concerned, however, about the strength of this bond: "does not constitute a genuine social bond."

Since the society is so specialized, individuals have to rely on a host of other people to survive. Look at today's medical system, for example. Someone may go first to a primary doctor, or general practitioner, but if there is a problem, a specialist in the medical field will be recommended. The healthcare specialties and subspecialties keep on growing. When the United States experienced the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing and technology took the place of smaller home-based companies. The society underwent demographic changes with a major population increase, and it was necessary for society to become more specialized to grow and thrive. As Durkheim noted: "Social harmony comes essentially from the division of labor. It is characterized by a cooperation which is automatically produced through the pursuit by each individual of his own interests. It suffices that each individual consecrate himself to a special function in order, by the force of events, to make himself solidary with others." In today's modern society, this specialization is especially necessary. Because of the increased technology and globalization, labor is more specialized than ever, and will continue in this fashion.

Thus, Durkheim was not just interested with the development of the division of labor, but the changes it made on the way that people interfaced with each other. He was concerned with the social implications of increased specialization. He explained that as specialization grew, individuals are increasingly separated, values, norms and interests change, and work and social subcultures develop. As they take on roles that differ, people become closer to their work than they do one another. They are separating themselves from their wider community.

This division of labor, therefore, has advantages and disadvantages. Industrialization and technology have greatly improved the health and well being of people, but there is a price. Individuals lose their cohesiveness and become isolated from one another, animosity arises because of differences. Industrialization especially, noted Durkheim, dissolved human passion. Where traditional societies helped people control their desires and goals, modern industrial societies separate people and weaken social bonds as a result of increased complexity and the division of labor. This is especially found in today's society, where we are more separated by computer technology, the Internet, levels of bureaucracy and workplace specialization. It almost seems that people communicate more by phone, cell phone, email and the Internet than they do in person. Almost every where in the world there is some type of violence or the threat of war. In the United States, stress is mounting as people are concerned about the problems with the war, mounting costs of oil, food and other commodities, and the questionable economy. The road rage is entering other areas, as people rush through the drive-ups, grocery stores and drug stores to quickly pick up what they need and hurry off again. To Durkheiim, this was called anomie.

Durkheim wrote of the effect of anomie on human goals and the resulting happiness. As social restraints weaken, people decrease their limits upon their desires and aspirations. In the past, their goals were limited by social order, but now these goals are becoming out of hand -- look at all the huge homes people could not afford to buy. Durkheim warned in his called Suicide: "...one does not advance when one proceeds toward no goal, or -- which is the same thing -- when the goal is infinity. To pursue a goal which is by definition unattainable is to condemn oneself to a state of perpetual unhappiness."

Anomie therefore refers to the breakdown of social values and norms that have held together the society. Individuals become alienated; they can no longer find stability and their rightful place in society without established rules or "rules that are made to be broken," which is typical of today's legal system. Fear, which the world continually experiences, as well as mal-adaptation to life causes increased dissatisfaction, conflict, and deviance. This comes as no surprise, given the increasing violence in the United States, alone. The number of school and university shootings has been increasing. Durkheim saw that social periods of disruption, as the economic recession today, and especially great change, causes greater anomie and higher rates of crime, suicide, and deviance. Durkheim felt that sudden change caused a state of anomie. Witness the speed of change in the world today. The system breaks down, whether during a prosperous or depressed time, anomie is the same result.