Social Solidarity Through Religion - Durkheim's Studies

First and Foremost, the concept of social fact was developed by Emilie Durkheim, a sociologist who believed that sociology should revolve around the study of social facts. According to him, social fact portrays how values, culture, norms control the actions and beliefs of individuals and society as a whole. In fact, social facts refer to those social forces that influence the whole society and which exist external to the individual but at the same time which cannot be alter or control. As such, through social fact, Durkheim attempted to develop sociology as a scientific discipline that has objectivity and value consensus.

Therefore, out of the four major works of Emilie Durkheim, I have chosen to work on his last major work, published five years before his death in 1917, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, that has been respected as one of the foremost significant and most unique work upon Religion. It is generally regarded as his best and most mature work. He studied religion in the hope to understand the nature of religion, its religious beliefs and the ways these worked in different societies. In fact, Durkheim had examined religion as a key to towards social solidarity. In his book, he defined religion as “ a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and practices which unite in one simple moral community called church, all those who adhere them.” In general, religion is defined as a system of beliefs, values and practices concerning what an individual hold sacrosanct or considers being spiritually important. For instance, some people relate religion with the places of worship like temple or church; others refer to practices such as meditation, confession and still some believe that it guides their everyday lives like sin or karma. With the definition of religion by Durkheim, he put emphasis on religion as a social element. In addition, Durkheim was interested on how the individuals of the society could relate to the religious beliefs, practices and those functions that they serve.

Moreover, while studying religion, Durkheim realised that religion is an increasingly principal component of social life and with time, it become a part of the human condition. In his book, Durkheim firstly, focus his analysis on the most primitive religion at that time known as totemic religion of the Australian aborigines and he saw totemism as the most basic form of religion, whereby a totem refers to an animal or other natural object that spiritually or symbolically represents a person and their country of origin. Hence, he argued through the worship of their totem, the groups would be together and gave them a shared identity. Furthermore, Durkheim saw religion as a social fact, that involves rules and is external to the individual and which is also a controlling factor amongst those who followed it. For example, through religion, he explored the social facts of the suicide rates within the Protestant and catholic countries and communities. His findings illustrated that there was difference in the suicide rates with these two communities whereby the higher number of suicides was found in the Protestant society than the Catholic ones. This is mainly because; Durkheim argues that suicide is influenced by the social facts and the culture in action. Therefore, in his further research, he found that there are other factors like family organisation and family structure which can be represented as factors leading to suicide. For instance, Durkheim found that when a family is more integrated, the suicide rates are likely to drop, hence, the Catholics are believed to have a more integrated society with a larger number of families’ members than the Protestants with small families.

In addition, in his book, “The Elementary Forms of Religious Life”, he had referred religion as a social phenomenon. As such, Durkheim had set out to do two things; firstly, it was build up the truth that religion was not supernaturally motivated and was in fact, a product of society. Secondly, he wanted to distinguish the common things that religion set an emphasis upon and together with it, the impacts those religious beliefs had on the lives of all within the society. Hence, the major emphasis was on the solidarity especially as a part of mechanical solidarity systems and still an important extent in the context of organic solidarity between the various communities depending on the faith and beliefs they follow. According to him, individuals have the sense of belongingness associated with the symbols, they believed on and with which they have been living since their birth. It is these symbols, faiths and beliefs which bring them together to lead a life of solidarity. Besides, religion had given a meaning for life, provided authority figures and most importantly, it strengthened the morals and social norms held collectively by the individuals within a society. Above all, Durkheim believed that religion is about the whole society; it provides social solidarity by binding people together through shared rituals and beliefs, social control to enforce religious based morals and norms to help maintain conformity and control in society and it offers meaning and purpose to answer any existential questions and strengthen the people during their life’s transition and tragedies. Hence, he argued that through these values, social solidarity can be maintained and then societies and cultures can be held together. Additionally, Durkheim argued that religion can lead to what he calls “collective effervescence” which refers to moments in society when a group of people comes together in while performing a religious ritual. This in fact, helps the particular group to come together, communicate and participate in the same action that eventually serves to unify that group.

As a conclusion, religion for Durkheim is not imaginary but it is very real. He argued that there is no society that does not have religion. Religion is an expression of our collective consciousness and solidarity, which is the fusion of all of our own that then creates a reality of its own. As such, religion acts to pull people together either mentally or physically in the form of rituals, religious services or assemblies and focus on individual salvation and conscience. As written in his book, “if religion has given birth to all that is essential in society, it is because the idea of society is the soul of religious”. 

References:

• Durkheim, Emile | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2020. Durkheim, Emile | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 
• Summary of Religions and Beliefs | University of Bolton. 2020. Summary of Religions and Beliefs | University of Bolton. 
• Thought Co. 2020. Examples of Social Facts and Their Negative Impact. 
• Ron McGivern Chapter 15. Religion