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General Information On Collective Consciousness

By Sonya Riley


Collective consciousness, which may be written as collective conscience, is used when referencing a set of shared beliefs, moral attitudes and ideas. Such shared things serve as an undivided source among different societies. The term was originally used by Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist who wrote about this concept in his book Division of Labor in Society, which was published during the early 1890s.

The French word that is conscience is compared to, and translated as, conscious or conscience in the language of English. It might also be defined as awareness or perception. There are people who use the term conscience as if there is no way to translate this technical term or foreign word in English. Usually it is not related to moral conscience but an understanding that is shared in regards t social norms. With the word collective, Durkheim clearly states no intention of reifying or hypostatizing. This word, to him, refers to a commonality to most, or a social fact.

Durkheim discusses this topic in four of his books, including The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Suicide, Rules of Sociological Method, and The Division of Labor in Society. He maintained that in primitive or traditional groups a totemic religion is present and has a great effect on unity of members. This is done through developing common consciousness. In these kinds of societies, which center around tribal, clan or family relationships, the traits of consciousness of a person are shared among all in a society, creating mechanical solidarity through a shared likeness.

The concept and term is used outside of the social theory presented by Durkheim. There are several things categorized under this term that represent society of the modern day. This term is used by parapsychologists and sociologists.

Mary Kelsey, a lecturer of sociology, used this term in the early half of the 2000s. Kelsey used it in describing people within a social unit being aware of shared traits and circumstances. This awareness led people to act as a community in order to create solidarity. Rather than living as separate individuals, people came together in order to create dynamic groups that shared knowledge and resources.

There is a new theory that suggests the character of this consciousness is relative to the kind of mnemonic encoding applied in certain groups. For instance, cohesive groups that have an informal structure tend to represent important aspects of a community as episodic memories. This, in turn, has an influence that is predictable on the collective ideology and behaviors. It typically leads to indulgent atmosphere, solidarity that is strong, ethos that is exclusive, and more.

In societies, there are many collective groups, such as: family, community, organizations, nations and regions. Such units have their own capabilities to judge, reflect, conceptualize, think, reform and act. The different behaviors perceived among the groups will range based on varying consciousness. That is, variations that exist are believed to have practical meaning.

Collective consciousness was first introduced in an 1893 book written by Emile Durkheim. He was a French sociologist who used this term to reference shared ideas, beliefs and moral attitudes found among different societies. This particular concept has since been used by psychologists and sociologists in order to describe ideas and theories relative to the modern world.




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