Durkheim’s Theory of the Division of Labor and Its Relevance for Socially Responsible Robotics

Abstract

I argue for the applicability of Emile Durkheim’s theory of the division of labor to innovation in robotics. I claim that Durkheim’s threefold conception of ‘social pathology’ in terms of forced division of labor, excessive division of labor, and anomie provides an interpretive framework for analyzing the potential social and, by extension, ethical impacts of robots in the workplace. First, I outline the relationship between Durkheim’s theory of the division of labor and social solidarity. I describe how Durkheim sees the increasing division of labor of the industrial age as triggering a shift from what he calls pre-modern ‘mechanical’ to modern ‘organic’ solidarity. While mechanical solidarity is based on enforced similarities, such as similarity in belief or custom, organic solidarity is based on the emergence of interdependence, above all in the form of the division of labor. Durkheim, however, argues that certain social pathologies—that is, forced division of labor, excessive division of labor, and anomie—disrupt society’s transition from mechanical to organic solidarity. I in turn analyze how robots can contribute to these pathologies and describe a form of socially responsible innovation that accounts for Durkheim’s insights.