Similarities Between Karl Marx And Durkheim

From the three theorists that I have studied as part of this module Karl Marx is my personal favourite. Karl Marx in my opinion is without a doubt the most influential socialist thinker to emerge from the 19th century. Marx’s work was largely ignored in his own life time by scholars. His social, economic and political ideas gained rapid acceptance in the socialist movement after his death in 1883 (History Guide 2008). This is one of the reasons that I preferred Marx it was almost as if he anticipated what was going to happen in the future and created theories for people to follow so that they could cope. Until quite recently almost half of the world’s population lived under regimes that were Marxist. Marx’s success has meant that a lot of his original ideas have often been modified and his meanings altered to a great variety of circumstances. Marx, Weber and Durkheim are usually portrayed, in both an academic and a

The Division of Labour grapples with the issue of social solidarity and cohesion during a time of rapid social and economic transitions (Grant & Nixon 2015). Durkheim wanted to have social cohesion and solidarity in society. Both Marx and Durkheim adopted structural arguments that delimited the influence and impact of individuals upon society and social change (Grant & Nixon 2015). Durkheim was interested in how the society worked, how it was structured and how it functioned to achieve equilibrium. Durkheim’s theories were founded on the concept of social facts, defined as norms, values and structures of society (Study.com 2003). Another concept that Durkheim was concerned with was the division of labour in society. The division of labour focused on the shift in societies from a simply society to one that is more complex (Study.com 2003). Durkheim like Marx has many independent concepts and his concepts like Marx’s were founded long before Weber was