SOC 201 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1.9: Mechanical And Organic Solidarity, Social Fact, Sui Generis
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Because of this specialized division of labor, said durkheim, modern society could not be held together by likeness. The collective conscience people"s shared ideas, values, and goals existed but was a very small part of people"s overall consciences. As the division of labor in society became more complex, people became more different (and so, too, did their interests, values, beliefs, and the like). This brought durkheim to the point that was terrifying everyone else. Durkheim reasoned that dissimilarity would not mean an end to group solidarity. Indeed, as people became more specialized and different, they grew more dependent on one another. For example, because they worked in specialized occupations, people needed each other as sources of trade. Durkheim called this sort of solidarity organic solidarity, because society functioned as a complex entity that depended on the proper functioning of a variety of parts, or organs.
