Beyond the Clan: A Re-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence in Durkheim's The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life

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Before proceeding it is necessary to briefly outline the general points of Durkheim's structural theory of social solidarity. These are first stated in Durkheim's early work The Division of Labor in Society (DL). In DL Durkheim explores the causes and consequences of social solidarity. He posits two forms of solidarity that correspond to two different typesof social structure; mechanical solidarity, which integrates society on the basis of similarity and organic solidarity, which integrates society on the basis of interdependence. Durkheim believes that mechanical solidarity is the more primitive or traditional form and arises from the states of consciousness that are common to all members of the same society. Where this common consciousness makes itself felt, it forms relationships linking the individual to society as a whole. The degree to which these links are felt in diverse spheres of activity reflects the degree of social integration and cohesion in society, in its extreme form, confounding the identity of