Emile Durkheim And Weber's Impact On Religion

In this paper, I will examine some of the factors contributing to the importance and prevalence of religion and religious practice in some societies and how the concept of religion and religious practice has had an impact on the development of capitalism, particularly in western societies. Looking at the works of Emile Durkheim and Max Weber and their studies of religion and other writings drawing upon the ideologies of Durkheim and Weber, I will attempt to explain and extrapolate some of the reasons for the continuing nature of religion in many societies, in one form or another. While both Durkheim and Weber spent a great deal of time studying religion in society, the views and ideas they developed regarding religion were developed and obtained through very different approaches to their study of religion. However, both Durkheim and Weber, made remarkable observations about religion, religious practice and the overall impact it has on society.

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917, a French Sociologist, in his work, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912), explores religion as a social phenomenon. He took a functionalist view

Misztal, from the University of Leicester, in her paper, Durkheim on Collective Memory, focuses on the idea that every society needs a connection to its past in order to provide identity to both individuals and groups. The term ‘collective memory’ comes from Maurice Halbwachs, a student of Durkheim, but is based on Durkheim’s notion regarding the significance of a group’s social heritage to develop and reinforce solidarity. (Misztal 2003, 123) Religion, its practices, beliefs and customs, through the repetition of these rites and practices develops and constructs this kind of collective memory amongst the group members. Misztal states, “Rituals and their symbolism have significance as means of transmitting social memory, seen as the essential condition of the continuity of collective identity and social life.” (Misztal