Using at Least Two Early Sociologists (marx, Durkheim, Weber), How Have They Explained the Concept of Modern Society?

This is an essay about the two early sociologists Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim explaining about their theories and methods. It explains how they defined the concept of modern society by reading books that they have published such as Durkheim's: The division of Labour in Society and Marx's: The Communist Manifesto. Emile Durkheim used his anomie theory to explain the confusion of modern society and the division of Labour in Society. He divides the society into stages where it goes from simple to complex (mechanical to organic). Emile Durkheim did not only explain anomie in crime but did even better in using it with suicide. Karl Marx believed in communism and that everyone should be treated equally and that the society is divided in classes which have developed from the history of the world. It is the same classes but only developed into something else. Marx also believed that there were two classes; rulers and workers and that they exchanged products and the ruler gained the production in the end.

Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist, introduced the concept of anomie in his book, The Division of Labour in Society which was published in 1893. Emile Durkheim was worried about the effects of social change so he came up with a theory called Anomie. Anomie was a method for Durkheim to describe the condition of deregulation that was taking place in the society. This was ways on how people tend to behave with each other were breaking down and society did not know what to expect from each other. Anomie is when norms expected through their behaviour are confused, unclear or not present. Durkheim used the term Anomie in his study on Suicide in 1897, considering it a morally deregulated condition. As mentioned before, he demonstrated his concept of anomie very good not in a discussion of crime but of suicide. Emile Durkheim proposed two concepts in his book The Division of Labour in Society. First, he explained that societies developed from a simple, non-specialized, called mechanical, to a highly complex specialized form called organic. Durkheim states in The Division of Labour in Society:

"The first binds the individual directly to society without any intermediary. In the second, he depends upon society, because he depends upon the parts of which it is composed." (1893)

People behave and have the same thoughts in the former society. They more or less perform the same working tasks and have the same goals in the groups they are familiarized with. This means that the society becomes more complex, or as Durkheim would say 'organic' when the work also become more complex because one triggers the other. In this society, people are not tied to another any more and social bonding does not involve personal feelings.

However, Anomie also can be explained as a breakdown of social norms and this is a condition where the behaviour no longer has a control in the activities of members in the society. Individuals find it hard to find their own place in the society without any obvious rules to guide them. Emile Durkheim wrote that rules themselves can sometimes be a cause of an evil act. It can force a division in labour and start a civil-war. Once of the class in the society can disapprove with the new law which can prevent success and cause a lack of satisfaction. Example:

"The lower classes not being, or no longer being, satisfied with the role which devolved upon them from custom or by law aspire to functions which are closed to them and seek to dispossess those who are exercising these functions." (1893)

He then states that: "civil wars arise which are due to the manner in which labour is distributed". He also explained that the society possesses individuality but this does not occur in a society where types of solidarity such as, acting together only in the intensions that they have no actions of their own, is highly developed. Although, this kind of types of society 'personal rights are not yet distinguished from real rights' (Durkheim, 1893).

Durkheim believed that in higher societies; the people's responsibilities are not to lay out their activity over a large surface but rather to concentrate on it and improve it in any kind of way. Instead of trying to make the higher society into a successful masterpiece, they should see things clearer and find a task and put a target down to complete the task which will bring out a masterpiece in itself. The procedure of a change in conditions as well as adjustment of life can lead to a lack of satisfaction, conflicts and deviance. Durkheim observed that a time of social disruption brought anomie which would result to higher rates of crimes. Criminological theory, written by Franklin P. Williams, Marilyn D. McShane states:

"Even so, he [Emile Durkheim] saw that a period of social disruption, such as an economic depression, would make matters worse and result in greater anomie and, of course, higher rates of crime, suicide, and deviance." (2003, p97)

Durkheim believed that unexpected change could lead to a state of anomie. The human system breaks down, either during a huge success or a great down fall, anomie give the same result.

Another sociologist who has explained the concept of modern society is Karl Marx. He believed that everything should be equal and that the harder you work the more rewards you get back which defines the term Marxism. It stands for the conviction that communism is predictable and that capitalism was hopeless and that socialism (communism) was the only option. Marxism is used when it is applied to the social, political, economic and philosophical ideas and theories of Karl Marx. Marxism has a special meaning as being at the centre of growth of the political system of communism.

Karl Marx believed that the highest being is the individual, not God. People have come what they are from by their own labour which they make what they need to live by using their own natural resources. This is used by their own ability to rule the world by a procedure

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