We Can’t Understand Émile Durkheim’s Sociology Without Discussing His Conservative Politics
University courses present Émile Durkheim as a “value-free” sociologist who gave us timeless insights. But Durkheim’s sociology is inseparable from the bitter class conflicts of the French Third Republic and his profound hostility to revolutionary change.
Some of the key concepts of Émile Durkheim’s sociology clearly reflect his political positions. (Bettmann / Getty Images)
All over the world, sociology departments teach students the theories of Emile Durkheim. He is generally regarded as a “founding father” who elevated the discipline to the status of an objective social science.
His most famous book, Suicide, focused on a highly personal decision yet showed that there were stable social patterns behind it. While Durkheim’s precise explanation can be challenged, his recognition of social reality stood out. This insight is all the more important in an age when neoliberal ideologues like the late Margaret Thatcher proclaim that there is “no such thing as society.”
However, there is a major problem with the way Durkheim is taught. Western universities present themselves as spaces for free thought and objective, unbiased knowledge. Their courses invite students invite to read textbooks that assume that Durkheim’s ideas contain some timeless insights. This approach considers Durkheim’s blatant sexism, or his enthusiastic support for French imperialism during World War I, to be extraneous to the sociological endeavor.
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