Essay

Individual Freedom within Society: Unattainable and Undesirable

Utilizing Durkheim and Merton’s Theories to Highlight the Inconvenience yet Necessity

of Societal Regulation

The ideal of pursuing individual freedom and autonomy has been a value that has permeated society for decades, if not centuries. Actions in today’s capitalist society are motivated by self-promotion and ambition to attain monetary and societal success. That said, many sociological theorists highlight how citizens’ pursuits for personal autonomy are perpetually being muffled by the structures and social constraints within society. Furthermore, it can be argued that even if freedom was attainable, the consequential normlessness, or what Durkheim and Merton term anomie, produces an undesirable effect on both the society and the individual. Through examining Durkheim and Merton’s theories on society and anomie, it can be seen that freedom is an idealized, yet unattainable goal that, even if theoretically realized, would be destructive to the individual and society as a whole.
The paradox of freedom being frustratingly unattainable, yet ultimately destructive, can be further illustrated through utilizing a metaphor. Ideally, water is meant to flow freely in nature, but in order for it to provide a desired function of quenching thirst, it must be contained within the boundaries of a glass. Without this glass, water would be but a continuously spreading puddle on the floor; no purpose, no direction. In the same way, people strive to be free and unconstrained, but in order to have functional societies; there must be boundaries to individual action. Without these regulations and restrictions, there will be extensive societal disorder. Durkheim’s writings reflect this concept when he claims that “individual liberty” is the “product of regulation” (Durkheim 1902, 60). Durkheim’s view is that society is structured in such a way that there is an illusion of freedom and autonomy of the individual. In fact, one “can be free only to the extent that others are forbidden to profit from their physical, economic, or other superiority to the detriment of [his/her] liberty” (Durkheim 1902, 60). Durkheim views society existing as a separate entity from individuals and, at the same time, working as a force of control over nonconformity.
Robert Merton’s theories focus more on the structure of society (i.e. class) as having the confining power on individual freedom. Like Durkheim, Merton sees citizens being encouraged to pursue success and individual autonomy and yet being confined by social structure. Merton focuses his theory on how the structure of society perpetuates the existing classes; the rich get richer and, although encouraged to pursue success, the poor remain poor. He highlights how “social structures exert a definite pressure upon certain persons in the society to engage in nonconforming rather than conforming conduct” (Merton 1938, 179). There is a constant conflict within society between the largely accepted goals of society and the unequal access to means of obtaining these goals. This results in the less powerful people within society not having equal opportunity to achieve the widely accepted and normative view of success. Society is structured in such a way that the failure to achieve the accepted goals through legitimate means results in “deflection of criticism of the social structure onto one’s self… preservation of social power…[and] threat of less than full membership in the society” (Merton 1938, 179). So although these mechanisms are in place to control and regulate human behaviour, people are socialized to internalize failure and continue pursuing highly unattainable goals. Both Durkheim and Merton’s theories highlight how society is structured to deceive people into believing that they are freely pursuing success, when really they are simply products of society’s standards and regulations.
Although individual freedom is a constantly pursued ideal within society, practically speaking, uncharted freedom for all people would ultimately cause more negative consequences than good. Durkheim emphasizes the need for regulation and restriction on individual agency in order to avoid what he calls anomie. Anomie is when insufficiency of regulation results in “incessantly recurrent conflicts, and the multifarious disorders of which the economic world exhibits so sad a spectacle” (Durkheim 1902, 60). This can be as a result of economic disaster or any other widespread overturning of societal roles and status quo. Without regulation, there cannot be norms and expectations for conduct within society, which, according to Durkheim, will result in people’s ambitions for success proceeding without restraint. He claims that people’s desires are insatiable by nature so, unless they are controlled, people will stop at nothing to continue consuming without regard for the good of others. This anomie creates a sense of chaos within society where “inextinguishable thirst is constantly renewed torture” (Durkheim 1897, 63). People are a danger to themselves and others unless they are provided with societal norms and rules to live by. Durkheim expands his explanation of normlessness to explain instances of suicide within an unrestricted society. He calls this anomic suicide: which “results from man’s activity’s lacking regulation and his consequent sufferings” (Durkheim 1897, 68). When society lacks norms, and people are given unbridled freedom, man is left without a frame of reference in which to analyze the appropriateness and consequences of his actions. To Durkheim, without some regulation, a free mankind can be chaotic and destructive.
Similarly to Durkheim, Merton highlights the need for restriction of freedom in order to maintain a stabilized society and avoid the chaos that results from anomie. To Merton, anomie occurs when there is a “demoralization” of the means to obtain the accepted goals within society (Merton 1938, 177). In other words, when there is a perpetuating inconsistency between the encouraged goals and the available legitimate means to achieve these goals, society enters an anomic state. This is a circumstance where the values of society are blurred and the expectations for people are unknown. People are left to their own devices because even those citizens of high power and respect within society are utilizing illegitimate means to attain expedient success. This anomie causes widespread confusion and sometimes chaos that can no longer be controlled because of the insufficient instruments of effective regulation. People within an anomic state such as this are pushed away from Merton’s adaptation of conformity (accepting both society’s goals and means) and into one of his other four nonconforming, deviant adaptations—innovation (accepting goals but not means), ritualism (accepting means but not goals), retreatism (rejecting both goals and means), and rebellion (rejecting both goals and means as well as suggesting new goals and means) (Merton 1938, 180-183). Overall, Merton aims to show that without sufficient regulation and equal distribution of legitimate means to reach societal goals, society can be sent into an anomic spiral.
Like the water needs the glass, society requires regulation to thrive. Without regulation, people are given a degree of freedom that is not conducive to an efficient and thriving social structure. Society should strive towards equilibrium between allowing its citizens freedom and regulating their behaviour. Creating this balance is what will allow society to thrive in the most efficient way possinle. It is through utilizing Durkheim and Merton’s theories of regulation an anomie that it is clear that not only is freedom essentially unattainable, it is also undesirable.

Reference List

Durkheim, Emile. 1902. “Anomie and the Modern Division of Labour,” in Social Theory The Multicultural, Global, and Classic Readings, rev. 5th ed., ed. Charles Lemert, 60-61. Philadelphia, PA: Westview. Press.

Durkheim, Emile. 1897. “Suicide and Modernity,” in Social Theory The Multicultural, Global, and Classic Readings, rev. 5th ed., ed. Charles Lemert, 63-68. Philadelphia, PA: Westview. Press.

Merton, Robert. 1938. “Social Structure and Anomie,” in Social Theory The Multicultural, Global, and Classic Readings, rev. 5th ed., ed. Charles Lemert, 174-184. Philadelphia, PA: Westview. Press.