Abstract

This volume sets out to explore the use of Émile Durkheim’s concept of the ‘collective consciousness of society’, and represents the first ever book-length treatment of this underexplored topic. Operating from both a criminological and sociological perspective, Kenneth Smith argues that Durkheim’s original concept must be sensitively revised and suitably updated for its real relevance to come to the fore. Major adjustments to Durkheim’s concept of the collective consciousness include Smith’s compelling arguments that the model does not apply to everyone equally, and that Durkheim’s concept does not in any way rely on what might be called the disciplinary functions of society.

‘In his excellent book Kenneth Smith provides a rigorous reading of a wider range of Durkheim’s texts than is typically used by sociologists and criminologists. In doing so, he finds rarely noticed positive developments of, but also flaws in, the conceptual systems Durkheim deploys. Smith works with these systems, discriminating between them, correcting them, combining them, and using his own sociological imagination to produce a new and conceptually enriched Durkheimianism.’ —Frank Pearce, Professor of Sociology, Queen’s University, Canada

‘This excellent book makes a number of extremely interesting and original arguments and neatly links the historical/theoretical focus on Durkheim to contemporary criminological and more broadly sociological concerns. It should be accessible to undergraduates as well as being of interest to scholars in the field.’ —William Outhwaite, Professor of Sociology, Newcastle University, UK

‘In his excellent book Kenneth Smith provides a rigorous reading of a wider range of Durkheim’s texts than is typically used by sociologists and criminologists. In doing so, he finds rarely noticed positive developments of, but also flaws in, the conceptual systems Durkheim deploys. Smith works with these systems, discriminating between them, correcting them, combining them, and using his own sociological imagination to produce a new and conceptually enriched Durkheimianism.’ —Frank Pearce, Professor of Sociology, Queen’s University, Canada

Kenneth Smith is Reader in Criminology and Sociology at Buckinghamshire New University, High Wycombe, UK and the author of ‘A Guide to Marx’s “Capital” Vols I–III’ (2012), also published by Anthem Press.

‘This excellent book makes a number of extremely interesting and original arguments and neatly links the historical/theoretical focus on Durkheim to contemporary criminological and more broadly sociological concerns. It should be accessible to undergraduates as well as being of interest to scholars in the field.’ —William Outhwaite, Professor of Sociology, Newcastle University, UK

‘Kenneth Smith opens Pandora’s box and retheorizes Durkheim’s crucial notion of the “conscience collective”. His careful analytical exercise is not just illuminating for criminology but also for social theory in general. Smith prompts us to ask once again what the common or collective consciousness of our own societies today might look like. A major achievement of Durkheimian scholarship.’ —Hans-Peter Müller, Professor of Sociology, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany

‘Émile Durkheim and the Collective Consciousness of Society: A Study in Criminology’ challenges conventional thinking on the use of Durkheim’s key concept of the ‘collective consciousness of society’, and represents the first ever book-length treatment of this underexplored topic. Operating from both a criminological and sociological perspective, Kenneth Smith argues that Durkheim’s original concept must be sensitively revised and updated for its real relevance to come to the fore.

This study puts forward three major adjustments to Durkheim’s concept of the collective consciousness. It complicates the idea that the common and collective consciousness are interchangeable terms for the same phenomenon; it refutes the ‘disciplinary’ function of society as part of the concept of the common or collective consciousness; and it reveals the illusiveness of the supposed universal set of equally held ideas in a society, underlining the importance of geographical and generational variation.