Breaking down the question

The command critically examine the relevance asks two things: set out Durkheim's views on religion, and assess how far they still illuminate contemporary society. At 10 marks the answer needs a compact statement of his theory followed by a balanced appraisal of its enduring value and its limits in the modern, differentiated world.

Durkheim's views on religion, from The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912), centre on the distinction between the sacred and the profane, on religion as an essentially social phenomenon that expresses and reinforces collective solidarity, and on ritual as generating collective effervescence. Relevance in contemporary society invites reflection on secularisation, religious diversity, individualised belief and functional substitutes for religion.

How to approach it

  • State Durkheim's core theory: the sacred–profane division, the social function of religion, and collective effervescence.
  • Argue for continuing relevance: functional analysis, civil religion, secular rituals and the integrative role of shared symbols.
  • Note the limits: secularisation, religious conflict rather than cohesion, individualisation, and the neglect of religion's meaning and change.
  • Reach a balanced verdict.

Draw on the sociological theories of religion notes and the work of Emile Durkheim.

Model answer

Emile Durkheim offered a distinctively sociological theory of religion in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912). Studying totemism among Australian Aboriginal clans, he defined religion by the division of the world into the sacred and the profane, and argued that the sacred is society itself, worshipped in disguised form. Religion, for him, is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things that binds adherents into a single moral community, or church. Its essential function is social integration: through shared beliefs it sustains the collective conscience, and through collective ritual it generates collective effervescence — the heightened emotional energy that renews members' commitment to the group. Religion, in short, is society celebrating itself.

Durkheim's views retain considerable relevance today. His functional approach — asking what religion does for social solidarity rather than whether its beliefs are true — remains a foundational lens. The concept of civil religion, developed by Robert Bellah from Durkheimian premises, illuminates how modern nations sacralise flags, constitutions, founders and national days to bind citizens together. His insight that ritual generates solidarity extends beyond the temple to secular gatherings — national commemorations, sporting spectacles, political rallies and even digital communities — where collective effervescence still forges belonging. In a world of new religious movements and resurgent identity politics, his stress on the socially binding power of shared symbols is far from obsolete.

Yet the theory invites serious criticism when applied to contemporary society. The secularisation thesis suggests that in many modern societies religion has lost its integrating grip, as differentiation confines it to a private sphere and science and the state assume functions once religious. More damagingly, Durkheim emphasised religion's cohesive role but underplayed its capacity to divide: in plural societies religion frequently fuels conflict, communal violence and exclusion rather than integration. His account, drawn from a small, homogeneous clan society, travels awkwardly to large, differentiated societies of many competing faiths. The trend towards individualised and privatised belief — believing without belonging — sits uneasily with his collective emphasis. Critics also note that he neglected the meaning religion holds for individuals, its role in social change, and the substantive content of belief, reducing it too readily to a mirror of society.

On balance, Durkheim's views remain relevant as a powerful framework for understanding the social functions of religion and its secular equivalents, and for explaining why ritual and shared symbols still bind communities. But their explanatory reach is limited in a secularising, plural and individualised world where religion divides as much as it unites. His theory is therefore best treated as an enduring insight to be qualified rather than a complete account of religion in contemporary society.

Examiner's perspective

The examiner wants both an accurate summary of Durkheim and a genuine assessment of relevance — not a one-sided defence or dismissal. Answers that merely narrate the sacred and profane without judging their contemporary standing miss the command.

The strongest 10-markers state the theory precisely, argue relevance through functionalism, civil religion and secular ritual, and then qualify it with secularisation, religious conflict and individualisation before reaching a balanced verdict. Terms such as sacred, profane, collective effervescence and civil religion, used correctly and economically, signal command and secure the higher band.