David Émile Durkheim

David Émile Durkheim (April 15, 1858 – November 15, 1917) was a French sociologist. He formally established the academic discipline and, with Karl Marx and Max Weber, is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology.

Much of Durkheim’s work was concerned with how societies could maintain their integrity and coherence in modernity; an era in which traditional social and religious ties are no longer assumed, and in which new social institutions have come into being. His first major sociological work was The Division of Labor in Society (1893). In 1895, he published his Rules of the Sociological Method and set up the first European department of sociology, becoming France’s first professor of sociology. In 1898, he established the journal L’Année Sociologique. Durkheim’s seminal monograph, Suicide (1897), a study of suicide rates in Catholic and Protestant populations, pioneered modern social research and served to distinguish social science from psychology and political philosophy. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912), presented a theory of religion, comparing the social and cultural lives of aboriginal and modern societies.

Durkheim was also deeply preoccupied with the acceptance of sociology as a legitimate science. For him, sociology was the science of institutions, its aim being to discover structural social facts. Durkheim was a major proponent of structural functionalism, a foundational perspective in both sociology and anthropology. In his view, social science should be purely holistic; that is, sociology should study phenomena attributed to society at large, rather than being limited to the specific actions of individuals.

He remained a dominant force in French intellectual life until his death in 1917, presenting numerous lectures and published works on a variety of topics, including the sociology of knowledge, morality, social stratification, religion, law, education, and deviance. Durkheimian terms such as “collective consciousness” have since entered the popular lexicon.

Exercise 7. Choose the right answer.

1. What was Durkheim’s first major work?

a) The Elementary Forms of Religious Life;

b) Suicide;

c) The Division of Labor in Society;

d) System of Positive Polity.

2. What title did Durkheim get in 1895?

a) first professor of sociology;

b) first professor of psychology;

c) first professor of religion;

d) first professor of politology.

3. What is Suicide?

a) a study of suicide rates in Muslim and Protestant populations;

b) a study of suicide rates in Catholic and Protestant populations;

c) a study of suicide rates in Catholic and Judaic populations;

d) a study of suicide rates in Catholic and Buddhist populations.

4. What should a social science be?

a) preconceived;

b) exact;

c) disunited;

d) integral.

5. When did Durkheim die?

a) in 1917;

b) in 1927;

c) in 1817;

d) in 1827.

Exercise 8. Fill in the gaps using the words given below, and translate the sentences into Russian.

profound entitled separated official devote

entered promulgated considerable experience sombre

1. He … the army at nineteen.

2. These objectives have to be … within the organization.

3. Her books offer … insights into the true nature of courage.

4. Employees are normally … to redundancy pay.

5. This part of the garden should be … off for vegetables.

6. Some of the most … citizens were banished.

7. A senior UN … hopes to visit Baghdad this month.

8. I wanted to … more time to my family.

9. He’s counting on his mother to take care of the twins, for she’s had plenty of … with them.

10. Unfortunately, this happy story finishes on a more … note.

Exercise 9. Match the verbs on the left with the nouns on the right. Make up sentences with the phrases you’ve got.

1. to take up	a) with the science;
2. to be	b) a department of sociology;
3. to make	c) with the structure of society;
4. to devote	d) influence on smb.;
5. to lose	e) of/from cancer;
6. to die	f) one’s post;
7. to exert	g) one’s life to;
8. to be concerned	h) a complete recovery;
9. to set up	i) similar to;
10. to be preoccupied	j) residence.

WRITING AND COMMUNICATION

Exercise 10. Write an essay on one of the given topics.

1. Famous English Sociologist.

2. Famous Russian Sociologist.

3. The Father of Sociology.