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Organic Solidarity And Gesellschaft
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Organic Solidarity And Gesellschaft
Introduction
Naturally, human beings are sociable. For instance, they tend to live together in the form of community and society. Association between human beings is the fundamental requirement for mankind to exist. Ferdinand Tönnies, a German sociologist and philosopher, classified human relationship into two types. First, Gemeinschaft. Second, Gesellschaft. These relationships had been conceived on the basis of social structure in any community. A community is where human beings live and interact with each other. The human beings of a community can or cannot share language, culture, and beliefs. Sharing language, culture, and belief in a community is not a conditionality for human beings to co-exist. The aberration in opinions and values among human beings can rise due to social classification.
Organic Solidarity And Gesellschaft
An association between the human beings in the society that is driven primarily for self-interest and gains is referred to as Gesellschaft (Tönnies, 1957). In this society, an individual tries to accumulate whatever he can without taking into account the feelings of others (Tönnies, 1957). Although these individuals make up a community, they serve their interests no matter what the cost. In this society, family relations are weaker and have low priority when they come against secondary relations. Hence, the members of society feel they are not bound to it and demonstrate less loyalty to the community. The primary source of social coherence is the division of labor in a Gesellschaft society.
Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist who is considered to be a pioneer of the academic discipline, used the ideas of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft to explain the division of labor (Thijssen, 2012). Durkheim deduced mechanical and organic solidarity as the categories that underpin a community. A community in which human beings performs distinct roles portray organic solidarity (Thijssen, 2012). The togetherness of that community is based on the variety of functions and responsibilities of its members. Contrary to mechanical solidarity, the roles of human beings are interlinked but are not the same (Thijssen, 2012). The complex functions of the society are carried out by individuals in various roles.
Organic solidarity and Gesellschaft communities are driven by disintegrated relationships, self-interests, and personal goals. These driving forces are thought to be more significant than other values. Coherence in these societies occurs because human beings depend on each other to achieve their goals. In a Gesellschaft society, individuals disregard personal relationships and focus on their personal goals. For instance, in today's world, this behavior is witnessed in public places where individuals disregard each other and go on about their way.
Examples of Organic Solidarity and Gesellschaft in the Society
The first instance where organic solidarity and Gesellschaft behavior is witnessed is the education system. The education system is classified into different departments such as science, arts, and games. The division of labor is the characteristic of organic solidarity that is seen here. Teachers are assigned specific subjects to teach along with numerous other duties to perform. The coherence of organic solidarity is viewed in the school system as the different departments work in tandem to achieve a common goal. Individuals staying independent is the characteristic of Gesellschaft.
Next, organic solidarity and Gesellschaft characteristics are seen in a tech company. Division of labor can be seen as work is divided into software engineering, development, testing, and maintenance. Coherence in the organization is achieved through this division. Gesellschaft is demonstrated in tech companies is viewed as the individuals serve personal interests despite having a shared goal.
Lastly, organic solidarity and Gesellschaft is seen in volunteer organizations. Different persons perform various duties in a volunteer organization. The nature of the duties can be different. These can be of administrative nature, cleaning, cooking or construction. The reason individuals serve in volunteering organizations is to create an association with others. The solidarity in operations of the organization in which members work to enhance coherence in organic solidarity. The division of labor is shown by teams that assigned different tasks.
References
Thijssen, P. (2012). From mechanical to organic solidarity, and back: With Honneth beyond Durkheim. European Journal of Social Theory, 15(4), 454-470.
Tönnies, F. (1957). Gemeinschaft und gesellschaft. Theories of society, 1.
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