In industrializing societies, Durkheim recognized the inevitability of specialization. By definition, specialization means that individuals are going to have dissimilar occupations. This specialization would also affect religion. In industrial societies, religion would become just one aspect of lives that were increasingly divided into compartments â€" home, family, work, recreation, religion, etc.
Durkheim believed there were two components that would alleviate the decreasing social solidarity in industrializing societies: organic solidarity and conscientious attempts to find camaraderie through one's place of employ. Whereas social solidarity was maintained in preindustrial societies through a mechanistic sense of similarity and dependence along with communal religious affiliations, in industrialized societies, social solidarity would be maintained by the interdependence of specialists on one another. If one individual specialized in treating the injured or ill, they would not have time to raise crops or otherwise produce food. Doctors would become dependent on farmers for their food while farmers would become dependent on doctors for their healthcare. This would force a type of organic solidarity â€" organic in the sense that the parts were interdependent like the organs of an animal are interdependent for their survival.
In addition to the inevitable interdependence a specialized society would warrant, Durkheim believed that a conscientious effort to develop and foster friendships would transition from a religious brotherhood to friendships developed at one's place of employment. Specialized individuals would have a great deal in common with their co-workers and, like members of the same religious congregations in pre-industrial societies, co-workers would be able to develop strong bonds of social solidarity through their occupations. Thus, for Durkheim, the answer to the decrease in mechanistic solidarity and the increasing anomie was organic solidarity and solidarity pursued within one’s specialty occupation.
Factors of Social Change
Social change is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. Since change in one sphere influences other spheres of social life, it is desirable to take an integrated view of the processes of social change. This would facilitate a clear understanding of the role of various factors which have a collective impact on this process. We can then understand the various changes taking place and be able to identify the correlation and causative effects of various factors underlying these changes.
Social change occurs due to various factors:
- Physical environment
- Demographic
- Isolation and contact
- Social structure
- Attitudes and values
- Cultural
- Technological