The architecture of consensus in Durkheim s early political sociology

Abstract

The object of analysis of this article is how the role of political institutions is tackled in the construction of social consensus in the theoretical interventions made by Durkheim between 1883 and 1889 which are disregarded by criticism.As a result of all the inquiry held, it is worth mentioning that after Durkheim?s first productive period (1883-1885) ruled by questions about the capacity of the state?s mechanisms to lay the foundations of social consensus, he gets to the conclusion (between 1886 and 1889) that said consensus is spontaneous and self-generated, where political institutions only have a secondary and derivative role in its reproduction. He starts getting a new perspective that he would finally adopt with the passing of time.