Durkheim and Social Movements

Abstract

Abstract This chapter discusses Durkheim’s contribution to the theorization of social movements. The dominant Durkheimian approaches to social movements have been social disintegration approaches, on the one hand, and collective effervescence and ritual life-inspired analyses, on the other. This chapter suggests that there are other openings in Durkheim’s works as well that can be made productive for social movement theorizing, such as his sociology of morality as developed in Moral Education. It is argued that a distinctly Durkheimian understanding of social movements will entail an understanding of social movements as essentially moral phenomena. The chapter concludes that Durkheim’s reflections on morality in Moral Education allow for a theoretical perspective which is able to reconcile structure and agency, encompass a parallel focus on conflict and consensus, and allow for the theorization of emotional intensity as well as moral reflexivity in the analysis of social movements’ struggle for social change.