Revision summary
Durkheim: specialisation shifts solidarity from likeness to interdependence. Global supply chains illustrate organic solidarity. Anomie and forced division of labour fit gig work, caste-typed jobs, and lockdown rupture. Marx and unpaid care mark the gaps. Relevant, not sufficient.
Model answer
Introduction
Emile Durkheim treated the division of labour as the move from mechanical solidarity of likeness to organic solidarity of interdependence. The map still reads factories, professions, and global supply chains. Abnormal forms also still read gig precarity and lockdown rupture.
Body
What still fits
- Organic solidarity is visible when a phone, a vaccine, or a garment gathers parts and skills across countries.
- Restitutive law, contracts, and professional ethics remain the glue of specialised work, as he expected.
- The non-contractual basis of contract still matters: trust, standards, and logistics make exchange possible.
Abnormal forms today
- Anomic division of labour appears when rules lag behind new trades, as in platform work without clear hours or security.
- Forced division of labour appears when caste, gender, and race assign tasks irrespective of talent.
- The 2020 reverse migration showed how urban organic links can snap when the state and firm treat labour as disposable.
Limits
- Durkheim underplayed class exploitation that Marx placed at the centre of the same specialisation.
- He did not theorise unpaid care, which Ann Oakley made visible as labour outside the factory map.
- Relevance is high for interdependence and anomie; it is incomplete as a full political economy.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD DOL[Division of labour] --> MECH[Mechanical likeness] DOL --> ORG[Organic interdependence] ORG --> GVC[Global supply chains] ABN[Anomie forced DOL] --> GIG[Gig lockdown caste]
Conclusion
Durkheim’s division of labour remains relevant for global interdependence and for diagnosing anomie and forced specialisation. It is not a complete theory of gig work, care, or class. Use it with Marx and gender analysis.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
Critically examine the dialectics involved in each mode of production as propounded by Karl Marx
Next question on this syllabus topic (2021 · Q3(b)). View answer →
-
Does organic solidarity mean harmony?
No. Durkheim already named abnormal forms. Interdependence can be unequal.
-
Is the theory only about factories?
No. Professions, science, and now cross-border logistics are the same problem of moral density.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2021 · Q3(b) · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks
Critically examine the dialectics involved in each mode of production as propounded by Karl Marx -
2021 · Q4(c) · Sociology GS 1 · 10 marks
With suitable examples, explain how conformity and deviance coexist in a society as propounded by R.K. Merton -
2021 · Q5(e) · Sociology GS 1 · 10 marks
Do you think Talcott Parsons gave an adequate theory of social change? Justify your answer -
2021 · Q8(c) · Sociology GS 1 · 15 marks
Highlight the roles and functions of civil society in a democratic system. -
2020 · Q1(d) · Sociology GS 1 · 10 marks
'Ideal Types of Max Weber are mental constructs, they do not correspond to the reality. Give your views. -
2020 · Q1(e) · Sociology GS 1 · 10 marks
Analyse the relevance of 'Pattern variables' in the study of social change. -
2020 · Q2(a) · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks
What are the reactions of R.K. Merton to the functionalism of social anthropologists ? Bring out the limitations of latent functions. -
2020 · Q3(a) · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks
Capitalism has brought increasing informalisation of work in society.Substantiate your answer.
More from this topic
Q8(b) · UPSC Mains 2025 · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks
How do 'Civil Society Organizations' such as 'NGOs' and 'Self-Help Groups' contribute to grassroot level social changes? Discuss
Sociological Thinkers: Karl Marx
NGOs and SHGs are civil society forms between family, market and state. They contribute through services, rights mobilisation, thrift, credit and women’s public voice. SEWA, Kudumbashree and SHG-bank linkage are standard Indian illustrations. Social capital and capabilities names for the gain. NGOisation, donor dependence and microcredit capture are the critical limits. Grassroots change holds when members remain political subjects, not only project targets.
Q7(b) · UPSC Mains 2025 · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks
How do theories of Marx, Weber and Durkheim differ in understanding religion? Explain
Sociological Thinkers: Karl Marx
Marx treats religion as ideological consolation and mystification in class society. Durkheim treats religion as the sacred form of social solidarity and classification. Weber treats religion as meaningful ethic that can steer economic and political action. Differences follow the questions of critique, function and interpretation. Marx expects unmasking; Durkheim expects the sacred to migrate; Weber traces disenchantment. Do not flatten the three into a single sentence about the importance of faith.
Q6(b) · UPSC Mains 2025 · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks
What do you understand by gender-based domestic division of labour? Is it undergoing a change in the wake of increasing participation of women in formal employment? Clarify your answer with illustrations
Sociological Thinkers: Karl Marx
Gender-based domestic division assigns unpaid household and care work mainly to women. Oakley, Hartmann and Hochschild made that work theoretically central. Women’s formal employment has produced dual burdens more often than equal sharing. Outsourcing to paid domestic workers relocates rather than ends gendered care. India’s Time Use Survey shows a large unpaid-work gap by sex. Change is lagged and class-specific, not automatic with a salary slip.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.