Durkheim's Sociological Imagination of Religion: A Case Study of Durkheim's Elementary Forms of Religious Life

Abstract

The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, by Durkheim, is one of the original thinkers in sociology where he tries to elicit religion as not supernaturalism but instead as a social problem through collective life. Durkheim bases his descriptive work around the Arunta tribes of Australia as his empirical basis, likewise establishing the social contexts of religious practice in the real world (in modern epistemological terms: qualitative research). His central argument necessitating religion as being self-worship by the society turns religious symbols into collective representations and worship into social solidarity representations. The proposed matter is not a passive interpretation of things; it is an attempt to answer a main sociological question. What holds society together?

Presenters

Fatiha Sharmin
Student, Social Sciences, Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), Dhaka zila, Bangladesh

Details

Presentation Type

Poster Session

Theme

Social and Community Studies

KEYWORDS

Emile Durkheim, Religion, Social Context Of Religious Practices