How did Durkheim see magico-religious practices as essential to social cohesion?
"Durkheim saw magico-religious practices—especially religious rituals—as essential to social cohesion because they reinforce the collective conscience and bind individuals into a moral community."
"🧠 Durkheim’s Core Ideas
"In The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Durkheim argued that:
- Religion is a social institution that expresses and reinforces the values of the group.
- Rituals and sacred symbols serve as mirrors of the collective identity.
- Totemism, especially among Australian Aboriginal tribes, exemplifies how religious symbols represent the clan itself—thus religion is society worshipping itself."
"🔮 Magic vs. Religion
"Durkheim made a sharp distinction:
| Practice | Social Function | Durkheim’s View |
|---|---|---|
| Religion | Collective, binds community | Fosters social cohesion |
| Magic | Individualistic, serves personal ends | Lacks unifying social force" |
"So while both magic and religion may involve supernatural elements, religion is communal and integrative, whereas magic is private and isolating."
"🧭 Magico-Religious Practices as Social Glue
"Even in societies where magic and religion blur, Durkheim saw ritualized practices—including healing, sacrifice, and invocation—as ways to:
- Reinforce group identity
- Mark transitions (birth, death, initiation)
- Create shared emotional experiences that strengthen bonds"
"🧬 Legacy and Critique
"Durkheim’s emphasis on social cohesion has been critiqued for:
- Overgeneralizing from totemism
- Neglecting individual religious experience
- Downplaying the role of dissent or rupture in religious life"
"Yet his insight remains foundational: religious (and magico-religious) practices are not just spiritual—they are deeply social."
"Would you like to explore how this framework intersects with Victor Turner’s concept of communitas or with Jung’s idea of ritual as psychic integration?"
https://sociology.institute/sociology-of-religion/durkheims-sociology-religion-criticisms-impact/
You have used the word "rupture" a lot and I've seen it in the literature. Is it a prominent concept today?
"Yes, Gary—rupture has become a prominent and richly theorized concept in contemporary literature, philosophy, and cultural studies. It’s no longer just a metaphor for disruption; it’s a lens through which scholars interpret historical discontinuity, existential thresholds, and narrative transformation."
"🔥 Contemporary Prominence of 'Rupture'
"🧠 1. Narratological and Literary Studies
"Olivia Albiero’s dissertation Moments of Rupture explores how contemporary German novels use narrative form to relate, mend, and overcome personal, political, and social ruptures. Drawing on narratologists like Genette, Bakhtin, and Fludernik, she shows how rupture becomes a structuring principle in modern storytelling."
"🌀 2. Philosophy and Cultural Memory
"In the session Between Rupture and Myth, scholars examine how the 20th century is marked by profound discontinuities—a rupture with millennia-old cultural and spiritual traditions. Yet myth persists as a counterforce, offering cohesion and reinterpretation of meaning. This dialectic between rupture and myth is central to understanding postmodern and postcolonial literature."
"💥 3. Event Theory and Social Analysis
"Robin Wagner-Pacifici’s chapter 'Rupture' in What Is an Event? analyzes rupture as the threshold moment when events erupt before they are narrativized. She explores how ruptures disrupt time, identity, and emotion—often violently, but also with exhilarating potential. The Trayvon Martin case and Camus’ The Stranger are used to illustrate rupture as both singularity and series, a concept that destabilizes linear history."
"🧭 Why It Matters
| Domain | Role of Rupture |
|---|---|
| Narrative Theory | Structural device for transformation |
| Cultural Studies | Marker of historical discontinuity and trauma |
| Philosophy | Threshold between meaning and chaos |
| Political Theory | Moment of crisis and redefinition" |
"🧬 Mythic Resonance
"Rupture often signals the collapse of symbolic order—a theme you’ve explored deeply. But it also opens space for ritual containment, mythic reinterpretation, and psychic voltage. It’s the moment when the Real intrudes, demanding new forms of narrative and ethical response."
"Would you like to map rupture across mythic systems—say, how it functions in apocalyptic literature, initiation rites, or psychoanalytic theory?"
https://pamla.ballastacademic.com/Home/S/19519
Can Rupture Economics be a thing?
"Absolutely—Rupture Economics is not yet a formalized discipline, but it’s emerging as a conceptual framework in critical theory, ecological economics, and post-capitalist thought. Scholars are increasingly using “rupture” to describe discontinuities in economic systems, especially those triggered by crises, revolutions, or ecological collapse."
