Status and Solidarity: A Reformulation of Early Durkheimian Theory*

Previous scholars have charged that Durkheim provides an inadequate theory of inequality, that the concept of organic solidarity is not well supported, and that egoistic and anomic suicide cannot be adequately distinguished. Although these problems appear distinct, they each arise because Durkheim naturalized inequality and ignored social status. Introducing a concept of status permits a reconceptualization of the types of suicide and creates new analytic connections between The Division of Labor and Suicide. Social solidarity and status hierarchies are presented as variations in the relationship between social integration and social regulation. The interplay between status and solidarity influences the expression of social practice, power, belief, and justice.