The Durkheimian legacy in symbolic anthropology

Andrea Cossu

Chapter 7 in The Elgar Companion to Émile Durkheim, 2026, pp 107-124 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Emile Durkheim was often portrayed as the “functionalist” classic among sociologists, a picture made even more caricatured by the uses of Durkheim's interest in social integration by structural-functionalists both in anthropology (Radcliffe-Brown) and sociology (Parsons). The generation that followed the affirmation of structural-functionalism had a more ambivalent relationship with Durkheim, both in conceptual and methodological terms. As they were developing a more culturally sensitive “interpretive social science” and a “symbolic anthropology,” scholars like Clifford Geertz and Victor Turner had to come to terms with the complex legacy of Durkheim. The chapter focuses on two strategies of confrontation, as epitomized by Clifford Geertz's approach to religion and culture, and by Victor Turner's focus on ritual, liminality, and performance.

Keywords: Cultural sociology; Symbolism; Ritual; Performance; Emile Durkheim; Clifford Geertz; Victor Turner (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035322923
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