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Post by durkheim teaching on Jan 6, 2014 15:40:20 GMT -5
I'm wondering if anyone has readings to suggest that will illuminate what day to day life is like in a society exemplifying mechanical solidarity. My students -- and I even -- have a difficult time imagining that and therefore completely understanding Durkheim. Fiction or non-fiction welcome.
Thanks!
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Post by floydian on Jan 17, 2014 15:29:30 GMT -5
Why not go back to one of the great ethnographies: Religion of the Neur; Argonauts of the Western Pacific; The Fierce People? All of these non-literate peoples "fit" Durkheim's mechanical solidarity. Or, if you want more contemporary stuff, you can always find books on cults that try to impose homogeneity through dress, status, etc. (even cults like Jonestown where there was some differentiation in terms of Jim Jones' position and his inner circle still tried to impress upon the masses a mechanical type of society).
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Post by Great suggestions on Jan 20, 2014 9:28:23 GMT -5
Why not go back to one of the great ethnographies: Religion of the Neur; Argonauts of the Western Pacific; The Fierce People? All of these non-literate peoples "fit" Durkheim's mechanical solidarity. Or, if you want more contemporary stuff, you can always find books on cults that try to impose homogeneity through dress, status, etc. (even cults like Jonestown where there was some differentiation in terms of Jim Jones' position and his inner circle still tried to impress upon the masses a mechanical type of society). Thanks for these suggestions! I've never read ay of these ethnographies. Are any of them accessible for undergrads? Much obliged |
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Post by floydian on Jan 20, 2014 11:12:07 GMT -5
Most are accessible. !Kung, for instance, is taught in intro Anthro courses. There is a great book on Jonestown by John Hall (Promised Land) that is totally readable by a public audience too. The best part, is that there are several old documentaries on these tribes and chiefdoms that would further illustrate the point (a whole set on the Yanomamo in Brazil for instance).
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