06 July, 2010

Mechanical Vs. Organic Solidarity



1.       mechanical and organic solidarity
Description of types of society
Theoretical statement on the ways that societies evolve
a)         Mechanical Solidarity:
Traditional society
Strong collective conscience ruling thought and action
Structural units of society all the same
Repressive laws and punitive sanctions
Deviance is regarded as a crime against all members of society and the gods
Small kinship groups with strong ties and similar beliefs
Strong religiosity
Fervent obligation to collective conscience
Not much contact between kin groups
Low levels of individual freedom, autonomy,
Collective conscience dominant
Solidarity formed by the similarity in activity and belief held by each individual
b)         Organic solidarity
Large populations
Specialized roles
Diverse structural units
Interdependence amongst groups and individuals
Collective conscience weak
Laws restitutive & reintegrative
Normative regulations
Great freedom
Secular
Values more abstract



Morphological
features
Mechanical Solidarity
Organic Solidarity
1
Size
Small
Large
2
No of parts
few
many
3
Nature of parts
Kinship based
Diverse: dominated by economic & govt content
4
Arrangement
Independent/ autonomous
Interrelated, mutually dependent
5
Nature of interrelations
Bound to common conscience and punitive laws
Bound by exchange, contract, norms, and restitutive law

Collective conscience


1
volume
High
Low
2
Intensity
High
Low
3
Determinateness
High
Low
4
content
Religious –commitment conformity
Secular- individuality

 Mechanical Solidarity
Characterised by:
§  A small, isolated homogeneous population
§  Little or no specialisation
§  Division of labour based on cooperation
§  System where social links are based on custom, obligation and emotion.
§  Shared Values and Beliefs
§  A system of social institutions in which religion is dominant
§  Produced a system of social cohesion
§  Legal system based on repressive sanctions, which serves to reaffirm traditional values
§  As a result of the dominance of a few shared values, society can mobilise en masse.
§  Little individual freedom
§  System in which individualism is undeveloped
§  The status of the individual is determined by kinship
Organic Solidarity
Characterised by:
§  Larger population spread out over a larger geographical area
§  Complex division of labour
§  Individuals are dependent on others to perform economic functions that they themselves can not perform
§  Performs a key role in ensuring interdepence and development of social ties
§  Replaces interdependence based on kinsip, religious ties or shared values
§  Much individual freedom
§  Individual the object of legal rights and freedoms
§  Individual status determined by occupation rather than kinship ties
§  Legal System
§  Based on restitutive sanctions
§  Redress social wrongs by restoring situation to previous state

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