The moral effect of the division of labour in Durkheim

Law as a visible symbol of social solidarity

Abstract

This article analyzes Émile Durkheim's theory of modern social order and the role of law. For the author, the social division of labor in industrial and complex societies produces, in addition to economic effects, an organic solidarity that leads to the integration of individuals as a result of the connection between the talent of each and the labor qualities of others. As a methodological resource, the article develops an analytical analysis of the concept and fundamentals of law, which is not analyzed under normative bias, but as an external symbol of social solidarity. Thus, legal rules and sanctions, in their capacity as emanations of morals, customs, traditions and social practices, enable a rational explanation of the very nature and forms of changeable social relations. This view of the classic French author gains special importance in the face of the growing tendency to base the regulation of economic activities on moral concepts.