The concept of "collective consciousness" was introduced into the scientific circulation by Emil Durkheim. He made it clear that he does not spiritualize and sacralize this concept, for him the “collective” is simply something that is common to many people, that is, social fact. And social facts exist objectively and do not depend on the subjective desires of individual individuals.
Durkheim Theory
The concept of "collective consciousness" was introduced into scientific circulation by Durkheim in his books On the Division of Social Labor (1893), The Rules of the Sociological Method (1895), Suicide (1897) and Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912). In The Division of Labor, Durkheim stated the following. In traditional / primitive societies (based on clan, family, or tribal relations), totemic religion has played an important role in uniting members by creating a collective consciousness. In societies of this type, the content of the individual’s consciousness is largely shared with all other members of society, creating mechanical solidarity in a mutual likeness.
In Suicide, Durkheim developed the concept of anomie to refer to social rather than individual causes of suicide. This refers to the concept of collective consciousness: if society lacks integration or solidarity, then the level of suicides will be higher. At one time, this theory was disputed by many, but time has shown that it still works.
How collective consciousness holds society
What unites society? This was the main question that Durkheim posed when he wrote about the new industrial societies of the 19th century. By examining the documented habits, customs and beliefs of traditional and primitive societies and comparing them with what he saw around him in his own life, Durkheim created one of the most important theories in sociology. He concluded that society exists because individuals experience a sense of solidarity with each other. That is why we can create teams and work together to build an effective and comfortable society. The source of this solidarity is precisely the collective consciousness or “collective conscience”, as he wrote in French. Its influence is inevitable, and it is impossible to hide from it in any society.
Durkheim introduced “collective consciousness” into scientific circulation in his 1893 book On the Division of Social Labor. He later also relied on it in other books, including The Rules of the Sociological Method, Suicide, and Elementary Forms of Religious Life. However, in his first book, he explains that this phenomenon is a combination of beliefs and feelings common to all members of society. Durkheim noted that in traditional or primitive societies, religious symbols, discourse, beliefs and rituals contributed to the emergence of collective consciousness. In such cases, when social groups were fairly homogeneous (for example, of the same race or class), this phenomenon led to what Durkheim called “mechanical solidarity” - in fact, the automatic linking of people into a team through their common values, beliefs and practices.
Durkheim noted that in modern industrial societies that characterized Western Europe and the young United States, functioning through the division of labor, “organic solidarity” emerged based on the mutual dependence that individuals and groups experienced against each other, which allowed industrial society function. In such cases, religion still plays an important role in creating a collective consciousness among groups of people associated with different religions, but other social institutions and structures will also work to create it.
The role of social institutions
These institutions include the state (which promotes patriotism and nationalism), popular media (which disseminate all kinds of ideas and practices: how to dress, who to vote for, when to give birth to children and marry), education (which lays down basic social standards and binds to a separate class), as well as the police and the judiciary (which form our ideas about right and wrong, and also guide our behavior through threats or physical strength). Rituals serve to confirm the collective conscious range from parades and festivities to sporting events, weddings, grooming yourself in accordance with gender standards and even shopping. And you can’t get away from it.
The team is more important than personality
In any case, it does not matter whether it is a matter of primitive or modern societies - the collective consciousness is something “common to all,” as Durkheim put it. This is not an individual condition or phenomenon, but a social one. As a social phenomenon, it "disperses throughout society" and "has its own life." Thanks to him, values, beliefs and traditions can be passed on through generations. Although individuals live and die, this set of intangible things and related social norms has become entrenched in our institutions and therefore exists independently of individuals.
The most important thing is to understand that collective consciousness is the result of social forces that are external to the individual. The individual individuals that make up society work and live together, creating a social phenomenon of a common set of beliefs, values ​​and ideas that permeate society and are its very essence. We, as individuals, assimilate them and make the collective mind a reality.
Other values
Various forms of what can be called collective consciousness in modern societies have been identified by other sociologists, such as Mary Kelsey, who has explored a wide range of issues, from solidarity and memes to extreme forms of behavior such as group thinking, herd behavior, or shared experience time of joint rituals or dance parties. Mary Kelsey, a professor of sociology at the University of California at Berkeley, used the term in the early 2000s to describe people in a social group, such as mothers, who are aware of their similarities and circumstances and, as a result, achieve a sense of collective solidarity.
Coding type theory
According to this theory, the nature of collective consciousness depends on the type of mnemonic coding used within the group. A particular type of coding has a predictable effect on group behavior and collective ideology. Informal groups that meet infrequently and spontaneously tend to present significant aspects of their community as episodic memories. This usually leads to strong social cohesion and solidarity, a condescending atmosphere, the emergence of common ideals.
Community collective consciousness
The society consists of various collective groups, such as families, communities, organizations, regions, countries, which, according to Burns, “can have the same abilities for everyone: think, judge, decide, act, reform, conceptualize themselves and other entities, and also interact with ourselves, reflect. ” Burns and Egdal note that during the Second World War, different peoples treated their Jewish population differently. The Jewish population of Bulgaria and Denmark has survived, while most Jewish communities in Slovakia and Hungary did not survive the Holocaust. It is assumed that these different forms of behavior of entire nations differ depending on the different collective consciousness, individual for each nation individually. These differences, as can be seen in this example, can be of practical importance.
Sport and national pride
Edmans, Garcia, and Norley studied national sports defeats and correlated them with declining stock prices. They analyzed 1,162 football matches in thirty-nine countries and found that the stock markets of these countries fell an average of 49 points after they were expelled from the World Cup, and 31 points after they were expelled from other tournaments. Edmans, Garcia, and Norley found similar but lesser effects associated with international cricket, rugby, hockey, and basketball tournaments.