Emergence through convergence

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In Suicide, Durkheim looks at the role social order plays in something—suicide—that is seemingly very private and personal. To do so, Durkheim investigates suicide as a social fact that emanates from the social fabric rather than any single individual. After reading the excerpt, respond to the following questions.

In the Rules of Sociological Method, Durkheim calls for a science of sociology based on the empirical examination of something called social facts. Social facts are not facts about society, however, but rather structures and norms that exist outside any single individual. Read the excerpt carefully and then answer the following question.

Bourdieu is perhaps best known for his concept of cultural capital. He first used it to explain children’s educational outcomes in 1960s France, arguing that class culture, such as its attitudes, values, and norms, confers to its members’ advantages in the education system. In “The Forms of Capital,” Bourdieu defines cultural capital and its relationship to economic and social capital. Answer the following questions after completing the reading.

The title of Durkheim’s seminal work, The Division of Labor in Society, doesn’t quite do it justice. It is about so much more than the specialization of tasks or Adam Smith’s pin-makers. It is about how the fabric of society is woven into something greater than the sum of its parts. After reading the excerpt, respond to the following questions.