Durkheim and Organizational Analysis: Two Legacies

Abstract

All three of the 'founding fathers' of social science (Marx, Weber and Durkheim) have played important if contrasting roles in the evolution of management thought and organizational analysis. Of the three, the influence of Durkheim has been relatively less examined. This article argues that the time is ripe for a reconsideration of Durkheim's contribution and its potential for understanding past and present developments in management and organization. The dominant Durkheimian tradition emphasizes solidarity, the major concern of the work of Durkheim's middle period. His later work emphasizes differing systems of sym bolic classification and their role in the genesis or reconstruction of social order, and provides us with a very different legacy.