Émile Durkheim and the Sociology of Punishment

In this lecture, we think about Émile Durkheim’s sociological approach to punishment, focusing in particular on: (i) Durkheim’s understanding of punishment as a means of maintaining moral boundaries and upholding social cohesion; (ii) his notion of crime and deviance as social constructions, and his argument that deviance is necessary to achieve social change; (iii) his interest in the relationship between social change and penal change, through his work on the forms of punishment which predominate in primitive and advanced societies; (iv) the similarities and differences between Durkheim and the abolitionist thinker Peter Kropotkin.
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This lecture is part of a larger course exploring key philosophical and sociological approaches to prisons, punishment and penology. The full course can be found here: massolit.io/courses/prisons-punishment-and-penology?source=yt
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MASSOLIT works with university academics to produce short video lectures in the arts, sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is available to schools and colleges on an institutional license as well as via private subscription: massolit.io/?source=yt