David Émile Durkheim is often cited as one of the founders of modern sociology. His work, along with that of Max Weber and Karl Marx, explores the impact of industrialization and modernity on social development. Most notably, Durkheim seeks to explain how increasingly mobile and diverse communities can find meaning and a sense of collectivism in the complex industrial world. Durkheim notes that traditional and religious institutions, which had been the primary social glue of past communities, are gradually ceding power to specialized social institutions. The Division of Labor in Society is an attempt to address these questions of social progress, organization, and coherence.

In 1858, Durkheim was born in France, and beginning in 1879 he attended the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. His academic interest rapidly turned to psychology, philosophy, and sociology. These three disciplines form the basis of his doctoral dissertation, The Division of Labor in Society. Durkheim’s education also encouraged his interest in the work of other philosophers and experts in the field, including, notably, Herbert Spencer, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Auguste Comte. Among these, the work of Spencer figures most prominently in The Division of Labor in Society, with entire chapters dedicated to the appraisal of his socioeconomic theories.