Outline and Assess Durkheim's Account of the Importance of Rituals in Modern Society - Essay Example

? Introduction Rituals entail practices or things, which a person does frequently in the same manner each timethey do it. For example, morning routine can be classified as rituals since a person does them every day. Rituals serve to create and focus on the state that the mind and the land can be considered as one. Rituals form of everyday life in the modern society. Durkheim ascertains that rituals form an essential component of a meaningful life. The modern society applies rituals in almost all activities. This paper seeks to outline and assess Durkheim’s account of the importance of rituals in modern society. More specifically, the paper will focus on the works of Durkheim and his arguments on the role that rituals play in contemporary society. Properly constructed rituals alter intentions, thoughts, and feelings into actions, which may be symbolic. Such actions have considerable power, which can bring change of mind. Rituals may mark a transition from a mode to another, thereby altering a person’s consciousness. Durkheim suggested that rituals play a significant role in the modern society (Durkheim, Cosman &Mark, 2001, p41). The use of rituals has become so consistent in the world of today. Human beings apply rituals in numerous aspects of their lives. This has made use of rituals fundamental in the modern society. Therefore, we cannot down look the central role that rituals play in today’s society (Flood, 2012). Body Durkheim’s account of the importance of rituals in modern society. Jeffrey (1990, p20) observes that rituals play a significant role in the modern society. In his explanation of social phenomena, Durkheim considered religion and rituals as fundamental in the modern society. He observed that rituals can be used as the focal point in understanding any society. Alexander (2006, p52) notes that all societies are governed by rituals. Rituals, therefore, can be regarded to be crucial in the scientific study of contemporary society. Durkheim noted that rituals can be applied in an effort to understand the dynamics of today’s society. They help to identify norms, morals, and values of acceptable behavior, which members of a society share. Thus, rituals form the basis for understanding the cultural beliefs and traditions of a group of people. Durkheim also argued that through rituals, institutions that constitute the society can be understood. Rituals represent the ideals of people, which relate to their ways of life. Institutions such as the family, religion, and morals have rituals that govern them. Furthermore, rituals apply in other institutions such as schools, polity, and health institutions (Alexander 2006, p53). To Durkheim, rituals act as the beginning of almost all activities in the society. All aspects of the society are ritualistic; therefore, rituals serve a fundamental purpose in explaining aspects of modern society. Thus, rituals can be regarded as crucial in identifying structure of the contemporary society and its institutions (Flood, 2012). Durkheim argued that rituals provide people with a code of acceptable behavior. In his arguments, Durkheim purported this behavior regulates behavior in the modern society. Rituals refresh morals that govern the society. Since rituals lay down norms of acceptable behavior, they ensure security of all members of the society. Durkheim saw any deviation from the acceptable norms leads to crime. The society achieves social solidarity when all the individuals follow and obey the set rules (Durkheim, Cosman &Mark, 2001, p44). Therefore, rituals create a sustainable society where peace, harmony, and unity prevail. This can be seen in the modern society where deviation from certain cultural norms can lead to instability. Members of the contemporary society should respect the rituals to enhance solidarity in society. Failure of the people to obey rituals leads to chaos and constant conflicts in the society (Jeffrey1990, p22). Durkheim emphasized that, in the modern society, rituals set down the acceptable forms of behavior. According to him, most of the modern law systems appear to be based on ritualistic values and religious teachings. For example, some of the Ten Commandments apply in the British laws. The British law declares punishment on stealing, murder, or lie in the court of law. In this sense, therefore, rituals form the basis for introduction of laws, which govern the modern society (Fenton1984, p18). Contemporary societies may base their laws on the existent rituals. Modern law has to be made in the context of rituals. Rules that tend to contradict rituals existing in the society may not succeed. Society may reject laws, which may not be in line with its rituals. For example, in many instances, the modern society has rejected homosexuality on the basis that the act cannot be termed as ritualistic (Smith 2005, p107). Tiryakian (2009, p57) argues that, rituals, as identified by Durkheim, play an essential role in regulating both personal and social life. Marriage ceremony acts as the only way through which couples can gain certain rights. These rights may not be attained before marriage. The ritual of marriage acts as a way of regulation; those who commit adultery or other unacceptable acts may be subjected to penalties. This ritual serves to ensure that individuals go through the acceptable norm of marriage in society before they engage in some marital affairs. Rituals also place restrictions on the people who can marry. For example, rituals restrict homosexual marriages; many modern societies condemn homosexual marriages. Thus, rituals determine individual life and the interactions between people in the modern society. Those who attempt some forms of behavior may face criticism from the entire society. This stems from the fact that some behaviors go against rituals of the society. Durkheim maintained that rituals help to define a modern society’s culture. Without rituals, modern societies appear to have no idea of their identity. Rituals, therefore, represent the past. They serve to bring a sense of tradition in the modern days. Rituals emanate from the sharing and exchange of common ideas, customs, and beliefs. Therefore, they serve to enhance interactions and improve relationships between various communities (Williams 2002, p110). Groups of people in the modern society can be able to interact with one another based on the rituals, which exist in society. Therefore, rituals define culture, and without them, the modern society can lack identity of their origin. In the modern society, people interact less with one another. Durkheim argued that physical interactions between people have become minimal. Rituals serve a significant role to bring people and groups of societies together. These rituals help people to take a break for a moment. People change their routine styles of life because of rituals. In addition, children growing up in the modern society can be able to attach themselves to a group. Ritualistic rites and celebrations make children associate themselves to a society or group. As such, rituals create a sense of belonging, children of the modern society can pride themselves to belong to a culture, which already exists. Durkheim argued that rituals serve to stop the disintegration of the modern society during crisis. Since they bring people together, rituals restrict behavior, which may harm the society. Rituals discourage some forms of behavior that may lead to chaos, anomie, and anarchy in society (Smith 2005, p109). As a result, members of the modern society interact with each other habitually and peacefully with minimal conflicts. If rituals do not exist, chaos would be widespread in the modern society as individuals would break the norms. Rituals ensure that people obey the rules, and this reduces the likelihood for conflicts. Rituals play a role in socialization; they can be termed as secondary socialization agents. Through rituals, children learn how to relate to older members of the society. In addition, the modern societies and the current generation learn their ways of life through rituals. The moral beliefs and practices provided for by rituals act as a milestone in socializing individuals. As a child grows up, they learn about their family values and values of the society through rituals. Durkheim talked of collective conscience, which suggests that people should have shared values to enhance consensus (Fenton1984, p20). Durkheim believed that rituals determine social order in modern societies. To him, without social rituals, society would become disorderly and people would lack cooperation. He argued that, without rituals, there cannot be a society. Rituals strengthen the beliefs of the entire society. In addition, rituals serve to maintain the status quo, therefore, preventing any possible change in the modern society (Pickering 2003, p32). Rituals make the modern society believe that events depend on the control of the supernatural. He observed that religious rituals may be used by the state apparatus and the ruling regime to legitimize their actions. For example, they justify social inequality and stratification based on social classes. Mustafa &Durkheim (2003, p 168) observe that, since rituals provide shared values and norms, they help individuals cope with stress, which might otherwise disrupt the normal functioning of the society. Therefore, they facilitate the existence of the modern society. People continue to live harmoniously in the modern society because rituals allow them to do so. As Rosati (2009, p40) highlights, without rituals, society would be disrupted and probably breakdown. To prevent the breakdown of the modern society, rituals should exist. Durkheim observed that the modern society undergoes a series of changes. These changes can only be regulated by rituals. The absence of rituals would mean that these changes will affect the functioning of the modern society. Rituals determine the decisions that people make; as such, they determine how people live their lives. They have both positive and negative effects on the modern society. For example, some rituals face a lot of resistance from the members of the society. These rituals may hinder development and modernity (Mustafa &Durkheim 2003, p 169). Some traditional religious and cultural beliefs have taken the society backwards in an attempt to adopt modernity. For example, societies that practice rituals such as female genital mutilation appear backwards and primitive. Conclusion In summary, the importance of rituals in the modern society is worth noting. Durkheim argued that rituals play an essential role in the modern society. Rituals regulate the social and personal life of individuals. Human beings employ rituals in various aspects of daily life. According to Durkheim, Rituals serve to maintain stability and solidarity in the modern society. In the absence of rituals, the modern society would be chaotic, and conflicts would be witnessed on a regular basis. Through rituals, children learn the culture of their society; therefore, rituals contribute to socialization of children. Durkheim’s contribution on the role of rituals provides a basis for understanding the modern society. The contemporary society has become complex; this calls for rituals, which define morals and values of acceptable behavior. Reference List Alexander, J.C. (2006). Social Performance, Symbolic Action, Cultural Pragmatics, and Ritual. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. P50-54. Durkheim, E., Cosman, C. &Mark, S. (2001).The elementary forms of religious life. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p 40-45. Flood, G. (2012). The Importance of Religion: Meaning and Action in Our Strange World. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Fenton, S. (1984). Durkheim and Modern Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.p16-22. Jeffrey, A. (1990). Durkheimian Sociology: Cultural Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. P18-25. Mustafa, E. &Durkheim, E. (2003). Emile Durkheim: sociologist of modernity. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. P168-171. Pickering, W. (2003). Durkheim Today. New York: Berghahn Books. P30-46. Rosati, M. (2009). Ritual and the sacred: A neo-Durkheimian analysis of politics, religion and the self. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing. P38-45. Smith, P. (2005). Cambridge Companion to Durkheim. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. P106-115. Tiryakian, E. (2009). For Durkheim: essays in historical and cultural sociology. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing. P56-62. Williams, M. (2002). On Durkheim's Elementary Forms of Religious Life. London: Routledge. P108-115. Read More