Émile Durkheim and the Birth of the Gods

Maryanski marshals recent data from primatology, paleontology, archaeology, genetics, and neuroscience to argue for a new understanding of Durkheim. Unlike most scholars then (and now) Durkheim believed that humans are naturally individualistic so he turned his attention to how individualism could be overcome to forge strong communities, fostering macro-societal integration. The analysis of an elementary religion, he believed, would allow us to see first-hand the fundamentals of solidarity, built around various totems marking sacred forces, emotion-arousing rituals, and community. Maryanski’s unprecedented analysis confirms many of Durkheim’s then untestable explanations, shedding new light on his relevance in the 21st century.