Abstract
Classical social theories have usually regarded É. Durkheim as an exponent of structuralism and objectivism and as a sociologist who argued that social orders consist of shared beliefs or values.
However, H. Garfinkel, one of the most famous advocates of the interaction theory, recently presented an alternative interpretation of Durkheim's view on social order. According to Garfinkel, Durkheim proposed that social orders are formed by people's mutual participation in social practice, and that social orders are essentially formed spontaneously by nature.
The question that is addressed here is "what are the aspects of Durkheim's view on social orders that attracted Garfinkel's attention and eventually led him to link Durkheim with the interaction theory?"
The purpose of this study is to outline the connection between the interaction theory and Durkheim's claim about social orders, which has been regarded as the exponent of objectivism and structuralism.
In The Division of Labor in Society, Durkheim considered social orders as associations formed by people's free mutual participation. J. -J. Rousseau was influential on Durkheim in terms of forming this viewpoint of social order.
On the other hand, T. Parsons considered social order differently, in that he believed that stable social orders inevitably require shared beliefs or values. Since T. Parsons has had a major influence on social theory and the interpretation of Durkheim, Durkheim's own viewpoint about social order has unfortunately been neglected by almost all sociologists to date.
In this study, Durkheim's viewpoint on social orders is compared with that of Parsons. In addition, it is argued that Durkheim's viewpoint, as inherited from Rousseau, has crucial similarities with Garfinkel's interaction theory.
