Émile Durkheim

Émile Durkheim helped establish sociology as an academic discipline in France, bringing a systematic method to the study of institutions, shared beliefs, and social cohesion. Selected Writings gathers work from across his career rather than presenting a single continuous treatise. Anthony Giddens edited, translated, and introduced the collection for Cambridge University Press, arranging selections by theme while retaining their original publication dates. Its subjects include sociological method, moral obligation, forms of solidarity, political sociology, education, religion, and knowledge. The volume therefore offers a structured route through several branches of Durkheim's thought. His wider body of work includes The Division of Labour in Society, The Rules of Sociological Method, and The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, texts that shaped later debates about how societies hold together and how collective life influences individuals.