Durkheim Religion and society

Durkheim is remembered for his work on 'primitive' (i.e. non-Western) people in books such as his 1912 volume Elementary Forms of the Religious Life and the essay Primitive Classification that he wrote with Marcel Mauss. These works examine the role that religion and mythology have in shaping the worldview and personality of people in extremely (to use Durkheim's phrase) 'mechanical' societies.Durkheim was also very interested in education. Partially this was because he was professionally employed to train teachers, and he used his ability to shape curriculum to further his own goals of having sociology taught as widely possible. More broadly, though, Durkheim was interested in the way that education could be used to provide French citizens the sort of shared, secular background that would be necessary to prevent anomie in modern societies. It was to this end that he also proposed the formation of professional groups to serve as a source of solidarity for adults.Durkheim argued that education has many functions:
1. To reinforce social solidarity

• History: Learning about individuals who have done good things for the many makes an individual feel insignificant.
• Pledging Allegiance: Makes individuals feel part of a group and therefore less likely to break rules.

2. To maintain social roles

• School is a society in miniature. It has a similar hierarchy, rules, expectations to the "outside world". It trains young people to fulfill roles.

3. To maintain division of labour.

• Sorts students out into skill groups. Teaches students to go into work depending on what they're good at.