SOCIOL 2S06 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Occupational Safety And Health, Collective Effervescence, Totem
29 Mar 2018
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Document Summary
Totem is an animal, a plant, or an object which members of the tribal society see as being sacred and it has supernatural powers. Treated the totem with reverence as a result the members of the tribal society were forbidden from eating/killing/mistreating the animal/plant/object that is the basis for the totem. Social role of religion in tribal societies. Helped society, particularly tribal ones to function. The shared religious beliefs about the totem is what holds the society together. Connected to what durkheim calls mechanical solidarity. Collective effervescence is a special feeling that occurs when one is experiencing the sacred in social gatherings. Gathering is when the community worship the totem through ceremony. May also emerge when they gather to punish those who have violated social norms. Religion as the worship of tribal society. The collective conscience refers to the beliefs and practises of the community. People created religion but over time they forgot that they had created it.
