Solidarity is the main pillar of society. It holds and maintains the society, it bears rules, sanctions, penalties, obligations, and responsibilities, and is interlinked with the socio-economic development of the society. The main objective of writing this memo is to identify different aspects and approaches used to define social solidarity. Those theories and their domain, which reflect the entire concept of solidarity will be discussed and identified in this memo. Social solidarity has been defined through various theories, Perrier to them I would like to define some related concepts, which have direct relations with social solidarity. Anything or action which is against the laws and social sanctions is a crime, their break causes disturbance and imbalance in society. Those crimes can be retaliated through penalties and repressive laws.
Durkheim’s theories discuss the social structure of society, his theories mainly stand upon the very concept of functionalism, societal norms, labor distribution, and social values. The crux of his theories is to constitute a society upon social values and equality, where everyone can feel free to inspire their lives (Durkheim, 1972). Since his theories bear the concept of, functionalism and social values, social justice and equality are mandatory to be fulfilled.
Durkheim postulated the theory of mechanical solidarity to describe the social sector and social setup. The theory of mechanical solidarity encompasses the idea of social integration of the members of the society who bears common values and shares common norms. This reflects an idea of mutual understanding amongst the members of society (Durkheim, 1972). It also reflects the importance of an individual in society. He further explains that common believes and values constitute a “collective conscience”. Break of those consciences and violations can be retaliated through proper actions and legislation to create harmony and stability.
Comments and Reflections
The mechanical theory of social solidarity covers the diverse field of social aspects but lacks some important aspects of modern society. since we are living in a dynamic society where things change from time to time, the demands of the current society are different from the former society, thus we need an updated and modern approach. The question is how to harmonize a society bearing different socio-cultural aspects since the world is globalizing. Peoples come from different backgrounds with different values, thus we cannot rely only on common values, rather we need to create such a social setup where differences of ideas are appreciated and form a pluralistic society.
References
Durkheim, E. (1972). Forms of social solidarity. Emile Durkheim: Selected Writings, 123-124.
