Émile Durkheim and the Collective Consciousness of Society

A Study in Criminology

By (author) Kenneth Smith

Publication date:

01 August 2014

Publisher

Anthem Press

Dimensions:

229x153mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781783082278

This volume sets out to explore the use of Émile Durkheim’s concept of the ‘collective consciousness of society’, and represents the first ever book-length treatment of this underexplored topic. Operating from both a criminological and sociological perspective, Kenneth Smith argues that Durkheim’s original concept must be sensitively revised and suitably updated for its real relevance to come to the fore. Major adjustments to Durkheim’s concept of the collective consciousness include Smith’s compelling arguments that the model does not apply to everyone equally, and that Durkheim’s concept does not in any way rely on what might be called the disciplinary functions of society.

Preface: Erewhon; Introduction; Part I: The Concept of the Collective Consciousness of Society; 1. Durkheim on the Collective Consciousness in ‘Moral Education’; 2. Durkheim’s Other Writings on the Concept of the Collective Consciousness; 3. Collective Consciousness, Common Consciousness, Collective Conscience or Conscience Collective?; Part II: The Form of the Collective Consciousness; 4. The Form that the Collective Consciousness(es) of Society Takes in a Late-Industrial Society: I. Macro-sociological or ‘General’ Characteristics; 5. The State as the ‘Organ’ of the Common Consciousness; 6. ‘The Rule-of-Law’: A Case Study; 7. The Form that the Collective Consciousness Takes in Early Twenty-First Century Britain: II. Micro-sociological, Individual or Small-Scale Factors; Part III: Durkheim on Crime and Punishment; 8. Durkheim on Crime and Punishment in ‘The Division of Labour in Society’; 9. Durkheim on Crime and Punishment in ‘The Rules of Sociological Method’; 10. Interregnum on ‘Suicide’ (1897); 11. Durkheim’s Undeservedly Famous ‘Two Laws of Penal Evolution’ Essay (1901); 12. Durkheim on Crime and Punishment in ‘Moral Education’ (1902–03); Part IV: Social Factor Social Phenomenon? Durkheim’s Concept of the Collective Consciousness as a ‘Social Fact’; 13. What Does Durkheim Mean by the Concept of the ‘Social’ and What Does He Mean by the Concept of a ‘Fact’?; 14. Social Facts or Social Phenomena?; 15. Social Facts and Sociology; 16. Social Facts as Living Things; Part V: Some Problems with Durkheim’s Concept of the Common and Collective Consciousness; 17. Interdependence and the Division of Labour in Society; 18. Durkheim on Socialism; 19. Professional Ethics; 20. Individualism, Durkheim and the Dreyfus Affair; Conclusion; Appendix: On Paying a Debt to Society; Notes; References; Index

‘This excellent book makes a number of extremely interesting and original arguments and neatly links the historical/theoretical focus on Durkheim to contemporary criminological and more broadly sociological concerns. It should be accessible to undergraduates as well as being of interest to scholars in the field.’ —William Outhwaite, Professor of Sociology, Newcastle University, UK