Sociology / Unit 4 Soc 0452 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Mechanical Solidarity
Captions available
The idea
Mechanical solidarity, Durkheim's term, is the cohesion of a society whose members are bound together by shared work, beliefs, and ways of life.
In practice
In a village where nearly everyone farms, people are held together by similarity.
Where people slip
Mechanical here means acting as one automatically, by similarity — it does not refer to machines.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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