Sociological Ideas of Durkheim and Marx

Paper Summary:

This paper highlights the origins of sociology and looks at how both Emily Durkheim and Karl Marx sought to explain capitalism's impact on industrialist society. The paper then explains how they took very different approaches; Durkheim took a positive functionalist view on the division of labour and its effects on social solidarity, while Marx took the opposite extreme and held an extremely negative view on the division of labour.

From the Paper:

"Sociology and the social sciences emerged during the age of enlightenment, a period in time when reason and logic began to take precedence in western society. The stage for early sociologists was set by August Comte, who gave the study its name and its status among the emerging empirical sciences.
"His vision of 'rigorous scientific methods' (Giddens, 2006) to study society influenced one of the leading figures in sociology, and the founder of functionalism, Emile Durkheim. Durkheim lived and worked during the nineteenth century, a century of great change and social transgression. He was interested in collective conscience and social solidarity as well as the division of labour resulting from the changes the industrial revolution brought about in western society."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Giddens, A. (2006) 'Sociology'. Cambridge: Polity Press.
• Haralambos, M and Holborn, M (Eds) Sociology Themes and Perspectives. London, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd.
• Marx, K. Capital, Vol. I (Modern Library; New York, 1906), pp. 96-7
• Muller, H. P. Social Differentiation and Organic Solidarity: The "Division of Labor" Revisited. Sociological Forum, Vol. 9, No. 1, Special Issue: The 100th Anniversary of Sociology's First Classic: Durkheim's "Division of Labor in Society.". (Mar., 1994), pp. 73-86.

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