Marx and Durkheim

Paper Summary:

The paper examines how Karl Marx and Emilie Durkheim criticized similar behaviors in society from opposite perspectives. The paper explains that Marx was concerned with social conflict and the struggle for valued resources while Durkheim was interested in the function of society and how it shapes individuals' behavior, thoughts and feelings. The paper compares Marx's idea of alienation and Durkheim's idea of anomie and explains that alienation is a problem of domination and class conflict, while anomie refers to conflicting values.

From the Paper:

"Marx believed that a Capitalist society is divided between the profit-oriented bourgeoisie (those who own the factories) and the proletarians (those provide labor in the factories). He saw a conflict between these two classes that was inevitable in capitalistic production. For Marx, Capitalism was inherently alienating, especially in alienating the worker. The main aspects of alienation are the separation of labor from the worker, and separation from the products of their own labor. Both end up being controlled by the bourgeoisie and dominating the worker."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Horton, John. 1964. "The Dehumanization of Anomie and Alienation: A Problem in Ideology of Sociology." The British Journal of Sociology 15: 283-300.
• Lemert, Charles. 2004. Social Theory: The Multicultural and Classic Readings. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
• Salerno, Roger A. 2004. Beyond the Enlightenment: Lives and Thoughts of Social Theorists. London: Praeger Publisher.

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