Emile Durkheim Division Of Labour Analysis

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The division of labour is the call to specialization that will come about when technology advances and populations become denser like those of cities as argued by Durkheim (Carls, n.d.). He used the example of transition of societies from mechanical to organic solidarities as a vehicle to show that division of labour has a definite impact on social integration and morality. Whereas it can be enticing to follow suit and agree with the thinking of a great visionary, there are problems with applying that to today’s context. There are underlying assumptions that do not hold true, and as such it cannot be said that division of labour always has an impact on social integration and morality. Social integration can be seen as social solidarity in Durkheim’s …show more content…

The same however cannot be said when the context changes. In today’s world, division of labour still occurs but it does not bring about social integration as the division of labour can happen across seas. With the improvement of transportation technology, people are more mobile than ever leading to phenomenon such as globalisation. People are still dependent on one another for specialisations the other person has, like how Durkheim hypothesized. However, this dependency can be seen to promote alienation rather than social integration today (Marx, Engels, & Tucker, …show more content…

In the real world it is not so and this leads to social conflict. For example to climb higher in the corporate ladder, it is important to have soft skills such as people management and long-term planning. The division of labour only concerns itself with the efficient distribution of labour in society to generate stability in society. Thus with the justification of stability in society, those who have better soft skills are placed into seats of power through division of labour. According to division of labour alone, this would not cause any problems and society would enjoy the stability due to efficient allocation of labour and the interdependence of its members forming a new

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