Durkheim’s Naturalistic Moral Education: Pluralism, Social Change, and Autonomy

Abstract

Whatever happened to Emile Durkheim? The progenitor of modern educational sociological theory and research, today he is not so much dismissed as ignored. When mentioned in recent educational writing, he has become a stock character, a convenient trope whenever someone wants to argue against the idea that education is “mere socialization.” In those rare occasions when he is heeded, it is commonplace to view Durkheim as a “conservative” thinker who valued social quietism over individual freedom. The last decade has seen many figures from the history of social science influencing educational discourse—Vygotsky, Wittgenstein, Bateson, Goffman, Garfinkle, Weber, Habermas, and the ever-present Marx and Dewey. It is at least curious that the man who gave so much credibility to sociology, anthropology and educational research has disappeared from educational discourse. Durkheim has a “public relations problem.” The problem is not Durkheim’s, of course, but ours in the education community, for we have forgotten a rich source of social and educational ideas.